A Second Sinbad
by FilligreeDragon
Summary: Just because I dyed my hair a light purple and my skin was practically translucent which looked like a lighter coloration of a certain king, doesn't mean I'll become some great person like Sinbad, the Conqueror of the Seven Seas. Then again, when Sinbad, his Eight Generals, and the Kou royal family are thrown into my life, it's doesn't seem like I have much of a choice. SpoilerWarn
1. Prologue

Prologue:

 _The king will rise. The knights will come forth. The goddess of deceit foretells peace. The star of light foretells war._

"Huh," I said, looking at the old book's cover, "sounds interesting." It was leather and covered in a thick layer of dust. The intricate golden letters and their meaning somehow drew me to open it to see the story that had to be inside. Confusion leaked into my features as I found nothing but blank pages.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Brii?" MD asked from over my shoulder. The suddenness of the words made me jump, whipping my head around to look at her. Long brown hair, tan skin, brown eyes, and gothic clothing made up my best friend; still the same as ever. "Geez, I didn't mean to scare you," She said as she sat cross-legged next to me, "You seem jumpier than usual."

"It's nothing," I quickly brushed off her worry, she didn't need to worry about any panic attacks from me, "I was looking at this book. Well, more of a diary if anything; the pages are blank." I handed the book over to her where she looked through the pages quickly before looking at the cover like I did.

"Weird," She commented before handing it back, "It's like a prophecy or something." I nodded my agreement, tracing the letters absentmindedly. It really did seem like a foretelling, and something in my gut told me that it would happen soon. How it would manifest, is the question.

"Do you think you could get me a rag?" I asked, holding back a sneeze, "I'm beginning to have allergies."

"Yeah, sure," She responded, getting up and walking off. She came back quickly and I wiped off the dust. When my hand grazed over the inscription, however, the book opened to a page in the middle with a familiar eight pointed star pattern.

"Hey, isn't this the symbol from-?" A flash of light cut me off. It came from the pages and MD and I had to cover our faces to prevent ourselves from being completely blinded. When the flash of light had subsided, nine new bodies were lying in my room. I blinked in confusion.

"Hey, Brii?" MD asked after a moment. A few of the people groaned in discord and pain. A white haired man and a purple haired man stirred and tried to sit up sooner than the others.

"Yeah?" I asked, more focused on the familiar looking strangers in front of me. I was trying to remember where I've seen them before.

"I think Magi just became real."


	2. Chapter One: Fear and Backorder Thoughts

Chapter One: Fear and Backorder Thoughts

 _The peaceful herald has faced adversity. The black messenger will face more adversity._

"I think Magi just became real," MD said from beside me, and all of a sudden my memory came flooding back to me. The people in front of me were Sinbad and his Eight Generals, and given the unfamiliar situation and place any moment now-

"Who are you?" Sinbad demanded, eyes showing obvious distrust. I gulped as I looked between him and Jafar, both very dangerous men to be around like this, especially without a weapon. Nervous laughter bubbled up in my chest and I couldn't hold it back, sounding as if I was laughing at the question despite the obviously terrified look on my face. This only rewarded me with more distrust from both of them. They towered over me as they stood up.

"I-I'm Brii," I stuttered out around the laughter, "And this is MD." MD seemed to be checked out. Tracing her line of sight, I could see she was, in fact, checking out Sinbad. I wished I had the courage to tell her to stop, but currently the life or death situation of negotiating with the people before me.

"Where are we?" Jafar asked next. That question was definitely going to be harder to answer.

"Well, another world, I guess?" My answer was a question itself, and therefore not at all convincing. This was evidenced in how their expressions hardened while some of the other generals began to wake up themselves. I needed to convince them we were on their side. And fast. I stood up at this point, but stayed at my spot near the wall. Despite standing, they weren't any less intimidating. _Why do I only have to even out at five feet?_ I thought bitterly. However, I quickly continued to plead my case, "I-I'm being honest. Please, just hear me out. We're just as confused as you, if not more."

"Go on, then." Sinbad said, putting a hand out towards Jafar. That brought my attention to the very pretty daggers that he was gripping, ready to murder me with one well-placed stab. Sinbad must have been giving a signal to standby, hopefully.

"Okay, so basically you're in a new world where there are no rukh or djinn or magis," I began as I started to pace, trying to focus on the facts as much as possible and not the multitude of people that could murder me, "So instead of that, there's a lot more technology. I think it might technically be in the future compared to your world as well and, um…" I couldn't think of anything else to say before the book once again caught my eye. I picked it up from the ground, closing it in the process. "This book bro- huh?" I cut myself off as the cover caught my eye. The words had changed on it.

"You're obviously lying," Yamraiha piped up when I went quiet, "I can see the rukh around you."

"There's rukh?" I asked stupidly, looking up from the book. When I did so, I barely had time to move the left before one of Jafar's daggers flew towards my face, cutting my cheek in the process. I clutched the book to my chest, tears and laughter bordering on spilling as I looked at the dagger no less than three inches from my face.

"We don't have time for this, tell us the truth." Jafar said, pulling his dagger back to him by the red wire.

"Hey!" MD spoke up now. She was probably upset that Jafar had cut me. I quickly leapt up to cover her mouth with my hand.

"I'm really sorry about that, we honestly didn't know rukh existed," My speech was quick and I was beginning to have trouble breathing, "Holy fucking cheese balls…" I mumbled out, the panic and fear of the dagger setting in. I vaguely noted how Jafar kept a close watch on me and MD.

"Sinbad, you better have a look at this." Hinahoho called from my window. Sinbad strode over to look outside. He was probably expecting Sindria or a neighboring country; however, he was instead met with a neighborhood in Northern California. I let MD go here due to my arm beginning to protest against the pain of the height difference, hoping she wouldn't do anything else rash; not that I could really say much.

"Heheh, welcome to Northern California," I said awkwardly.

All of them looked through the window at the very different sight, and I hoped that my tale of this being an alternate world made much more sense now.

"I'm sorry about our hostility," Sinbad began, taking my free hand, "But I'm sure you'd be just as confused and worried waking up in a strange place. Not that a beautiful girl like yourself should ever be in that situation." I blinked in confusion at him; surely he wasn't trying to flirt with me.

Taking my hand back awkwardly, I responded, "Been there, done that, not fun." It was true; I had nearly died of bacterial meningitis when I was seven, and waking up in a hospital should never be fun. Unconsciously, I covered my face by pushing my glasses up my nose. I was just glad that now Sinbad was more interested in getting allies rather than killing us.

"Well, why don't we go down to the living room and talk about this there?" MD cut in, "It's much more comfortable down there and Brii's privacy won't be invaded anymore." I almost forgot that I was standing in my own room; it felt so alien with so many people in the smaller space.

As people began to shuffle out of the room, I let MD guide them down stairs to our rather large living room. I silently thanked the gods that my grandmother left her house to me. Before I joined them, I retrieved a bandage from a cabinet to cover the wound on my cheek. I quickly ran downstairs as soon as I stopped my heart from beating a million miles per minute.

"Okay, Brii's back!" MD called out gladly as I walked in. She almost looked like a scolding mother glaring at her several children the way she was standing in front of the Sindria inhabitants.

"Yeah," I agreed as I stood next to her, "I don't think we need to do any introductions, because we already introduced ourselves and we know your names already." At the sight of Jafar's eyes narrowing, my brain realized what a dumb thing that was to say. Swiftly, I added, "You guys are from a form of entertainment in our world, and that's why we already know you, so, uh, yeah…"

"You were going to say something about the book," Masrur spoke up. I was thankful he was merciful enough to supply a topic.

"Oh, right," I couldn't seem to gather my thoughts, everything seemed to blur together and my tolerance for social interaction was being pushed past the limit, "The book, uh…"

"The book held the eight pointed star when it did a thing and you guys appeared," MD supplied, and I was very grateful that she existed at the moment. "The same star on the metal vessels."

"May I see the book?" Yamraiha requested politely. I stepped forward and handed it to her. As she inspected it, I tried my best to collect my thoughts, get some sort of consciousness back instead of the fuzzy I-don't-remember-where-I-am thought process currently buzzing in my skull. I usually didn't interact with so many people, much less border on a panic attack for a fear of being killed, so I was having trouble keeping up. "This is a magic tool," She spoke up after a moment, jarring me back to the situation at hand.

"A magic tool?" I repeated, "I'm guessing it uses space-time magic?" It was just a guess, but it did make sense given the effect it was able to create.

"Yes, exactly," She said, her voice laced with surprise and impression. I was happy that I knew what I was talking about.

"So a magic tool got us here?" Sharrkan asked from beside Yamraiha. She looked over at him, an exasperated look on her face.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" She retorted. Before they could begin to fight, I took the book back. MD walked over and dragged me a little ways from the group at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look tired," She started, "Why don't you take a nap and I'll take care of these guys, alright?" I didn't want to leave her alone with them, but I knew that with a nap I'd be able to function better and maybe even have some good ideas. I nodded in agreement with the plan and trudged up the stairs, still clutching the books in my hands.

When I was safe in my room with a locked door and wrapped in a blanket, I looked at the book to finally read what the words said.

 _The trilogy king and his kin will come forth. The lady of war will bring the court of evil._

Nodding in feigned understanding, I set the book and my glasses on the table next to my bed before rolling over and falling asleep.


	3. Chapter Two: Theories and Games

Chapter Two: Theories and Games

When I woke up, it seemed to be pretty late into the night, at the least ten PM. As I rolled out of bed and haphazardly set my glasses on my face, I stretched my back out before leaving the room for the bathroom across the hall. I washed my face before looking in the mirror. Pale, nearly translucent skin was littered with freckles and blue eyes were underlined with bags. Thankfully my thick framed classes hid them most of the time as I didn't trust myself with make up. My lilac hair was unruly and sticking out all over the place due to sleeping. It was typically straight with bangs brushed to my left and fell to my shoulders.

"I look like death," I mumbled to myself as I rubbed at an eye. A yawn left my mouth as I shuffled out of the bathroom down to the kitchen for sustenance. No one seemed to be around, my be-socked feet and baggy pajama pants the only things making noise in the seemingly deserted house. A shiver went up my spine at the thought. I hated silence, so I began to hum as I plucked a soda can from the fridge.

I popped the tab and began to roam around the house. I felt oddly restless after everything that's happened. Nine people were now living with my best friend and I, nine strangers, nine new faces to learn all the quirks and avoid for the better of part of twenty four hour time sequences. _Having social anxiety is lovely,_ I thought. I could just throw them out; but with their origin, I'm not sure if I could trust them to not cause chaos, intentional or not. There's also the added variable of fans or possible government experimentation, so despite the anxiety that would be added upon my already existing ones, I honestly felt the most comfortable letting them stay here.

As I walked near the back door, my thoughts were cut out by a sudden and very urgent whisper-fight. I cautiously grabbed the nearest object (the TV remote which, in hindsight, isn't the best weapon to fight a robber or murder off with) and looked through the window. Instead of the inevitable terror of a human being with bad will towards me, I was met with the sight of Sinbad and Jafar discussing what their next move should be. I opened the door to pop my head out.

"You know, talking about stuff like this outside isn't good," I started to get their attention. They both whipped around to look at me with break-neck speed. "It might sound a little paranoid, but anyone could be listening." Sinbad briskly gained his composure and nodded.

"Yes, very true," Sinbad agreed, "Let's go inside." As the two of them walked inside, I threw my can into the recycling bin and checked the time.

"It's fucking three am," I said as I realized how ridiculously late it was. No wonder nobody was awake; normal humans were sleeping by now.

"Erm, yes," Sinbad supplied to the conversation; he obviously seemed a little surprise at the vulgar language spilling from the five foot, petite, quiet girl. A nervous chuckle left me.

"Sorry," I apologized, despite not really having anything to apologize for, "So what were you talking about?" I was generally curious, especially if they were having issues with anything. I wanted to help with any problems. They were going to be staying with us, and most likely for a while at that, so I felt the need to accommodate them as much as possible.

"It's nothing, really," Jafar voiced rapidly. I got the impression that it was classified Sindria information, so I just nodded.

"Alright, if you say so," I answered. I began to fiddle with my silver ring as I added, "So what do you guys have so far on how you got here?"

"We've come to the conclusion that this is another world that we were sent to for a reason," Jafar said, "We just need to figure out what that reason is." I nodded, it made sense. Something nagged at the back of my mind, something that my mom told me about a long time ago.

"Why don't you guys head to bed since it's so late?" I suggested, "I'll see if I can figure anything out." I could call my mom and ask her about it. Hopefully she won't be busy.

"Right, of course," Sinbad said before walking off. Jafar quickly followed him. I watched as they ascended the stairs, all the while trying to remember the information I had been taught once before.

" _Disenchantment of humanity._ " Something with these words was what I was trying to remember, but my memory loss was winning the battle. Resigning to the fact that I wouldn't be able to remember on my own, I took another soda from the fridge, trudged upstairs, and killed a few hours by wasting time on my computer. The world of YouTube, Tumblr, and games filled my mind.

After I noticed the clock had turned to a little past eight, I grabbed my cellphone and almost immediately found my mother's contact. This shouldn't have been much of a surprise, but it made me realize exactly how little I get out of the house or speak with anyone outside of the only two people I've come to never get enough of.

"Hello? Anything wrong, monster?" My mother's voice said affectionately in my ear after a moment. I smiled at the fact she didn't seem to need to go immediately for her sociology research.

"Hey, Mom," I started, "I needed you to remind me of that one theory with the sociologist who talked about the 'disenchantment of humanity.' My friends and I are working on something."

"Oh, Weber's* disenchantment?" Mom clarified, "He was the one who thought that with the more reliance on science and technology that the world grew to be more dark and serious and depressing. Was that all you needed?" I quickly typed out the message onto a note on my computer.

"Yeah, but how are you?" I asked. I hadn't talked with my mom recently, so a conversation sounded nice. We talked for about fifteen minutes before she needed to go. I double checked my facts. I was happy as my memory was jogged and just decided to go downstairs to talk with the others when a rather large shout from Sharrkan reached my room. I ran as fast as I could to see what was going on. Coming into the living room, I slid towards the back of the couch before finally stopping and realizing what exactly happened.

MarioKart was displayed on the TV, and Jafar and Sinbad seemed to be the only people in the group who picked up the controls quickly and well.

I facepalmed as I looked at the people laughing at the screen and Sharrkan's reaction as he fell of the track, yet again. Yamraiha seemed to be too concentrated on her own score to tease him. Sinbad and Jafar sat beside the two of them, intensely battling for first place. I walked into the kitchen in search of my best friend; she had to have had a hand in this. As expected, she was in there cooking.

"Why did you set them up with MarioKart?" I asked her. Someone was eventually going to die or be strangled. I could just tell.

"Because it's really funny," She answered as if it was the answer to 2+2. My eyes narrowed, but the grin on my face betrayed my thoughts. Logically, they shouldn't be playing. However, it was hilarious to see them yelling and cursing god over animated pixels.

"I hate that you're right," I said.

"I know," She smiled, "but you love me."

"That I d-" I was cut off by the sound of crashing and wood splintering.

Maybe MarioKart wasn't such a good idea anyways.


	4. Chapter Three: Popculture and Fitting In

Chapter Three: Popculture Puns and Fitting In

A few days had passed since the MarioKart incident and that particular game and fighting had been banned. I'm fairly certain I surprised them at how angry I had been and the authority I seemed to command them with; even Sinbad looked like I could do some damage to him. None the less, the problem was solved and I was currently measuring Hinahoho so I could order, or at least make, him some clothes that would pass in our world but also fit. After all, I don't think Hinahoho, or Drakon for that matter, would enjoy being squeezed to death by their clothes.

"So you're a seamstress?" Spartos quietly inquired from the couch. He seemed to be interested in the difference of fashion between our two worlds. I didn't really blame him, to be honest, especially after some of the girls they've all seen walking down the street. There was no way they'd survive in their world.

"No, not really," I said, jotting down another note of Hinahoho's measurements next to Drakon's, "My parents were into making costumes and I was along for the ride for a while." My parents were in the SCA and enjoyed being in costume at renaissance fairs. They also enjoyed making sci fi costumes and even helped me make custom Halloween costumes. My dad used to be amazing at making beautiful props and masks from anything; at least, before he died.

"And yet you're going to make me a," Hinahoho trailed off for a moment, looking for the correct word, "Trench coat?" Despite that being his final answer, he still seemed confused at the prospect.

"It won't be the best thing in the world, but it's only meant to be temporary anyways." I said, hoping to calm his fears. I knew the coats wouldn't turn out the best, but it would at least draw less attention than fur and scales. Before much else conversation could pass, MD ran into the room and hid on the other side of Hinahoho, who simply sighed.

"Brii, you gotta help me," MD panted. She seemed to be running from something or someone. The grin her on her face clearly said she was pleased with her work, however. With a sigh, I began to write down the last measurement down.

"What did you do?" I asked her. I sounded like an exasperated mother at this point. It was actually sort of funny considering my goth best friend was the one who typically took the motherly role.

"So Jafar and Sinbad were playing a sports game and when Jafar was beating Sin I said, 'Jafar, Jafar, he's our man, if he can't do it, great!' and now he's trying to kill me." She quickly explained. I was silent for a moment before I began to laugh so hard I fell off the step ladder I acquired to measure Hinahoho. Despite the pain, I continued to laugh a little too hard and little too much at the story. I tried to regain my composure as fast as possible and stood up after a moment or two, still giggling.

"I- I can't believe you did that," I said, trying to catch my breath, "That's such a bad joke from Aladdin, I don't even." We had talked before about what we would do if a situation like this with the characters ever happened and quoting Aladdin had been one of the things on our to do list. I've been so preoccupied with getting everyone settled in and used to how things work around here, that I've completely forgotten some of the jokes we liked.

"Well believe it," MD said, her hands on her hips and her chest pushed out in pride, "But seriously, hide me." Footsteps on stairs sent MD running out of the room while I stood up. Jafar came into the room a moment later, his eyes narrowed and scanning the room for MD.

"Where did she go?" Jafar demanded.

"Timbuktu, you scared her off, big boy," I said, moving the stepladder back the closet where it belonged. I picked up the note book with their measurements and flipped the page. I began to crunch some numbers when Jafar spoke up again.

"Where's that?" He asked. I wanted to laugh as he obviously thought I was serious, but I fought it as much as I could.

"I believe that's on another continent. She went," I paused, not exactly sure which door she went through, "in that general direction." I finished, gesturing to a side of the room.

"How observant of you," Hinahoho joked, smiling.

"What are you talking about?" I asked sarcastically, "I'm the most observant human-being on the planet." Jafar ran out of the room at that point, bent on getting to MD. A small fear of him killing MD ran through my mind, but I quickly pushed it back and reminded myself that was ridiculous. There was no way that would happen. I returne to the numbers, double checking them as math was not my forte. MD was flying through the room as fast as she left, Jafar hot on her heels.

"Stop," I called out before they could leave the room again. They froze in place, almost looking an old cartoon. "We're going shopping, so be nice."

"We're finally leaving the house to get them clothes?" MD asked. I had completely spaced the fact that they needed clothes for the last few days until last night, when I began to make measures to get them all the bare minimum of clothing.

"Yeah," I said, as I grabbed my keys from the hooks next to the front door, "So hurry up and get everyone for me." The obstinate look on my friend's face reminded to add, "Please."

"Better," MD said. Turning to the majority of the house, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "GUYS GET DOWN HERE!" People filed in quickly, most likely vaguely scared of the consequences for disobeying the goth girl. I simply shook my head to try to get the ringing out of my ears. I turned to Hinahoho and Drakon.

"Will you guys be fine here for a couple hours?" I asked, "I mean, I don't want to sound mean or anything, but people would probably flip if they saw you two."

"And the government would want to experiment on you guys in their secret labs with strange formulas-" I poked MD's side, evoking a loud squeak and a betrayed glare from the taller girl.

"Be nice!" I chided. I really didn't want to offend them, and I knew Drakon was already self conscious about how he looked.

"It's fine," Hinahoho smiled and Drakon nodded in agreement, "We'll be sure that nothing happens to the house."

"Thanks," I smiled, my gut still twisting with the awkwardness and anxiousness of the situation. I quickly pushed feelings and memory out of my mind, hoping it would repress itself into the recesses of my brain as fast as possible, and strode out the front door, gesturing for the others to follow. I was a little worried about going on the bus with them, but it seemed to be a necessary evil.

After a scare of Sinbad flirting with an attractive woman and MD's jealously, not to mention Jafar nearly stabbing someone for getting too close to him or Sharrkan's reaction to a man cat calling and being disrespectful towards Yamraiha, we had successfully taken the bus to a strip mall. My heart already felt like it was going to explode from being in public this long without the privacy of an owned car to calm down in. MD set her hand on my shoulder, prying me from my thoughts and gestured to some of the group excitedly walking towards a store with a nod of her head.

"They're all moving," She said, "Think you'll be able to handle this?" I could tell she was worried.

"Yeah," I said, smiling just a little, "I already calculated the numbers and know what we can afford." She didn't seem as amused as I was with the joke.

"Just tell me if you need to cool off, okay?" Concern lined her voice as she spoke, and I felt bad that I was the cause of it. I simply nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to." I said.

"Good," She said, grabbing my hand, "The others are getting ahead of us, so let's hurry!" She dragged me into the store, her face settled in a broad beam.

I was immediately bombarded with a chorus of loud voices, metal clinks, and foot steps. Voices, faces, and colors blurred together as I struggled to keep my lunch down. It felt as if everyone was staring at me and my breathing became labored. My head spun as I hurried back out the doors I just walked through, the cooler air shocking my quickly warming skin. A stranger walking past sure must of thought I had gone off my rocker. I held my head as it began to pound. _That's right,_ I thought, _I forgot to take my migraine medicine last night and this morning._ I forced my eyes to focus on the world in front of me, concrete and teal converse.

"Brii…?" MD asked me after a moment. She had been calmly rubbing my back while my mind was suspended by the anxiety attack. I blinked, trying to come down from the high level of fear.

"Yeah?" My voice had been reduced to practically mouthing words. The faint rasp of a whisper must have let her know I was there, though.

"Why don't you stay out here and I'll get someone to stay with you?" She suggested, full recognition of what had just happened. "If you give me the thing with the 'calculations,' as you had put it, I'll be sure everyone gets what they need." My breathing still wasn't completely even, so I simply nodded; knowing I wouldn't be able to handle going inside and helping.

"Yeah, okay," I agreed quietly, still not comfortable speaking up yet. She smiled at me again, probably hoping to comfort me. I sat on the ground against a pillar as she strode back into the building filled with other human beings and clothes. The cold concrete made me shiver, even with my hoodie on. I flipped up the hood to keep from making eye contact with anyone.

A moment later, funny red and shoes came into the narrowed field of my vision and I knew Sinbad was the one MD asked to join me. Or at least he's the one that came. I didn't exactly feel like arguing or defending my actions or motives, but I also didn't want to be alone without someone I knew in some form.

"Hey," I greeted, not moving from the ball I had become.

"Hello," He said back as he sat down beside me, no doubt moving his obnoxiously long hair to keep from sitting on it as well.

"Did MD ask you to keep me company, or did you trade the chore with someone?" I asked, more so genuinely curious about what happened rather than worried or suspicious. However, suspicious was probably how I sounded.

"I volunteered." He said. _So he did trade,_ I thought, careful to keep it from reading on my face.

"Thanks," I said, genuine gratitude in my voice. I felt him shift a little beside me and took it as a sign that he nodded. I stayed quiet after that, not really having anything to say without possibly sounding like a paranoid, untrusting idiot. Luckily, Sinbad was naturally talkative.

"So what are those protestors about?" He asked. This prompted me to actually look up from my little bubble to see what he was talking about. I saw a group of protestors on gay marriage with signs talking about the bible. They were a religious group of people, purpose and a sense of arrogance radiating off of them.

"Those are religious people," I said stupidly, "They get really offended about anything that goes against their religion. They're protesting against gay marriage, despite the fact that it has many good points including that two people love eachother."

"Gay marriage?" Sinbad asked. The term sounded extremely foreign on his lips.

"Same sex couples." I said. He still seemed confused and slightly shocked, but I paid no mind to it. The others strode out of the store soon after and I stood up, brushing any dirt off my rump in the process.

"So are you feeling better?" MD asked, a ton of bags in her hands. However, the others all had a similar load. I quickly took some bags from her and a few of the others to be less worried about seeming lazy. Which I was, but they didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, let's just get home," I said. I must have sounded a lot less amused and energetic than usual, but having a panic attack does that to you. We all strode back to the bus stop to wait for the next ride home, which thankfully went smoothly. When we got home, I dropped the bags I had in the living room before silently walking up to my room. I soon crashed into bed and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter Four: A Dungeon Appears

Chapter Four: A Dungeon Appears and I'm an Idiot

I woke up just a couple hours later, much shorter than my first nap while they were here. However, when my half awake mind finally registered the loud noise that roused me from sleep to yelling downstairs, I began to panic. Had someone broken in and began to terrorize my friends? No that was absurd. Then again, the entire situation involving nine fictional characters living with my best friend and I was just as absurd, so my racing heart didn't calm down at the thought at all. I grabbed the nearest thing next to my bed, which just so happened to be a wooden back scratcher, and flew down the stairs as quickly as I could.

The room quieted as MD spotted me at the foot of the stairs, wielding a backscratcher like a baseball bat and looking more frantic and disheveled than usual. My eyes darted around the room to spot the cause of the danger, but there was nothing obvious to be found. Then my eyes narrowed in on the television screen playing the news, and big, bold letters spelling:

Mysterious building appears overnight, no one knows where it came from.

Just as my feet began to move back up the stairs to pack, MD grabbed me around the middle. I instantly began to struggle against her, panic flooding in even more and tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

"MD, I need to go!" I said, "I need to go fix it! It's my fault they're here to begin with!"

"You'll die!" She protested, sounding just as frantic and scared as I was, "You need to stay, we'll do something else!"

"I need to fix it!" I continued. I felt responsible, I felt terrified. Our world would tumble into chaos if anyone with influence got that Djinn, but if the little impoverished girl who hates going outside got it we should be fine. "I won't die, okay!? I need to fix it!" Sinbad stepped forward.

"Mady is right. It's too dangerous-"

"Stay out of this!" I shouted at him. It got deathly silent, the only thing I heard was my own panting breathing. I could barely see straight, everything was blurring together and I felt dizzy. I turned to MD, trying to look as understanding as possible. "MD, I know this is terrifying. I really need to this before it gets any worse, though, okay? I'll be back soon, alright? I just really need to do this." I felt horrible, but I ripped away from my best friend, the only person I could freely talk to, the only person who knew all my demons, the only person I was really trying to protect, and ran back up the stairs. I didn't stop to continue arguing with everyone.

I grabbed a bag and threw an extra set of clothes in. What else would I need? I reached to the bottom of my bed and pulled one of the drawers out to reach what was inside. A sword collection rested inside, inherited from my father. I grabbed a dagger and a sword. _Think, think, think!_ I demanded of myself inside my head. But I could only think of the hurt look on my friends face. Guilt and fear rose to an unbearable level and tears began to freely flow down my cheeks. I stubbornly wiped them away, and continued to pack. After bandages, Neosporin, Tylenol, and a waterbottle had been stuffed inside, I ran back down to the kitchen, protests falling on deaf ears. I filled the waterbottle, grabbed some non perishable food, and ran out the door just like that, dodging grabbing hands and red wires all the while. I didn't stop for anyone.

I ran down the street, adrenaline still pumping in my veins. I ran across the road, almost getting hit by a car, but I kept running until I was far enough away that I felt I couldn't be tracked. I leaned against a tree for balance to catch my breath, to calm down. There was a dungeon in our world. The only way I could rationalize the situation was that our world was adapting to the new stimulus from the Kingdom of Sindria's officials presence. Sinbad did have a way of making the world revolve around him after all.

After I could finally breathe, I looked around, realizing that the dungeon wasn't near at all. I barely saw the tip of the spire over some houses to my left. With a sigh, I picked my bag back up and walked off to go sneak into the dungeon.

* * *

A film crew was already there when I got there. This specific dungeon was a tall, twisting spire that looked as if it was crumbling. It was made out of a dark stone; marble accents warped into the design, almost looking like skulls. Walking around them, I saw police all around it as well. How I was going to get through this was beyond me. I decided that it was worth a shot to just run right through. The small crowd that had appeared would make that difficult, though.

"Hey! Watch where you're going you little punk!" An middle aged man said angrily. I jumped back, hands up as if to protect myself. I didn't realize I had spaced out so much to the point of running into someone.

"I'm sorry!" I squeaked. He looked unimpressed at the miserable excuse of human interaction and I cringed.

"I bet you are," He said before turning away again. I almost continued to walk around him, but I saw the perfect path to run inside just in front of him. _But how to move him…?_

"A-actually," I started softly, unnoticed by the man. I smacked his arm to gain his attention and he looked outraged. My will strengthening with the thought of saving the world, I continued, "You're the first shitlord I've ever aspired to electrocute." That turned his anger into wrath. He raised his fist, going to swing at me, but I slipped between the gap between him and another person before he could. I ran forward, ducking under the caution tape and quickly gaining the cops' attention. The man chased me right through the tape.

"Stop where you are!" The cops demanded, but I had a mission to complete. I continued to run, an officer popping up in front of me, and I ducked and rolled between his wide stance, accidentally hitting him in the nuts.

"I'm sorry!" I called, realizing that one officer had a tazer and that it was pointed at me. Thankful for a pillar next to the door, I hid behind it just as the tazer left the gun. With officers on either side and an angry man screaming profanities, I leapt into the portal of the dungeon, bracing myself for whatever I'd run into. However, I just felt weightless. Opening my eyes, I looked around to see the world.

"I must be in the pillar of light," I said to myself, trying to regain my bearings on the strange place. Despite myself, I marveled at the beauty, watching it grow brighter and brighter.

* * *

I seemed to wake up some time later on a floor. I groggily sat up, taking my surroundings. Furniture blocked most of my view of the walls and looked to be made for giants. In the center of the room, that was surprisingly the easiest to see, I found two chairs on either side of a table. The chairs looked very ornate with dark wood and white vines growing around the structures. They were cushioned with a round back and the fabric seemed to be embroidered black silk. Marble skulls adorned the tops of the backs with a light wispy smoke emanating from the eye sockets; one chair purple and the other red. The rest of the room, although dimly lit, followed a similar color scheme; the only difference that it held no purple. I stood up, brushing myself off despite how ridiculous it seemed from just waking up.

 _BARK_. It sounded like a dog as it rounded the corner, but once it did I saw that it was creature resembling Cerberus the hell hound. I would have screamed if my voice didn't seem to be caught in my throat. I almost thought I heard someone channeling my terror with a screech of their own but quickly wrote it off as my ringing ears. Fear pouring into my mind, I ran for a chair and began to climb up the leg. I felt like a mouse as I climbed, and panic pushed me forward faster than I ever would have. The demon dog didn't seem all that intelligent once it crashed into the legs of the chair, causing it to rock as I was headed to the cushioned back of the seat. Finally scaling the back of the chair when the dog rounded the chair to the front with its paws in the seat, I leapt for the table.

The dog lunged forward, aiming to bite my leg. Due to the sheer size difference, my leg slipped right through with only a rather deep scratch. I rolled on impact, pain seizing my leg. The dog seemed to have jumped into the chair and once again looked as if it was about to eat me. I looked around quickly for an escape from the lumbering beast. I expected to see large tea cups or plates, but was instead met with a house, or what was most likely a dollhouse given the size of the room. Clumsily climbing to my feet, I ran for the door. I collided with it as the dog's paws on the table rocked it. Shaking hands clutched the door knob and turned. I threw myself inside as two giant jaws closed around the space I was previously standing. I closed the door as fast as I could, leaning against the door for support as the pain from my leg began to get to me. I shifted my weight to make it hurt less.

I turned around, once again not meeting the scenery I expected. Like any dollhouse, there was furniture; the same table and chairs from before. There was even a window to the side. However, the rest was a cave, or more of a tunnel with how deep it looked. I began to walk to the window to look out when pain shot up my leg.

"Fuck!" I cursed loudly as I nearly fell to the ground. Yellow eyes opened all the way to the darkness of the tunnel and bats began to swirl around the room. It seemed that I woke them up. I shielded my face on instinct and when the bats seemed to have no end, I drew my sword, slashing my way through the flurry to get the window. I opened it and the bats swarmed out, disappearing into what seemed to be an endless desert with the same table and chairs in the center of the scene with the small glimpses I caught. When the last of the bats flew through the window, I slammed it shut, glad to be rid of the cretins.

"Ahem," A voice behind me called out impatiently, "it's not very nice to ignore people."


	6. Chapter Five: Meeting the Djinn

Chapter Five: Meeting the Djinn and My Demons

"Ahem, it's not nice to ignore people." The voice called out from behind me. A pang terror ran through my heart and I spun around, wincing once again as pressure was put on my leg. I was met with a young man with blue skin and dark hair covering half of his face and falling to his shoulders. He seemed to wear a shirt of bandages haphazardly wrapped around his torso with baggy pants that stopped at his knees and a loose sash around his waist. He had a gold and silver head piece, a matching gauntlet on his right hand, and a single gold hoop earring on the ear that showed in front of his hair. All in all, he looked rather annoyed.

"Just because a hell hound is chasing you doesn't mean it's any reason to ignore me." He continued, "But please, take a seat Miss No-Manners, your leg must be _killing_ you." He grinned at the last statement, making the annoyance act seem rather counterfeit. Despite not trusting him, I sat down in the chair and set my bag on the table to retrieve my bandages and Neosporin.

"Sorry," I apologized to him. I didn't even realize he called out to me, but I did want to be on his good side; especially if he was who I thought he was. He grinned even more at my apology, fangs showing in his smile, and waved the notion off.

"Oh, you're a smart girl, Brii," He said, and I paused digging through my bag to give him a questioning look, "You know I was faking it. And you must be _so_ curious as to how I know your name." I resumed digging out the disinfectant and moved my bag to the ground. I rolled my pants leg up to attend to it.

"I'm guessing you're the Djinn of this dungeon." I said, spraying the disinfectant on the wound. I cringed at the stinging and grabbed the roll of bandages and began to wrap it up. Hopefully it would stop hurting soon.

"Why, yes, I am. My name is Hilal." He said, "I thought I'd grace you with my presence to tell you how this dungeons works. If you haven't already figured it out." I rolled my pants leg back down and put my things away and properly looked at him.

"I'm guessing that every time I walk through a door I'm going to end up in a new place that's completely random until I make my way to the treasure room." I guessed. I didn't necessarily show a lot of emotion either way while talking, but he laughed happily.

"Oh, you are smart!" Hilal chirped, before returning to staring at me, "But you didn't quite hit the nail on the head." I raised an eyebrow at this, and he took it as my answer. "You see, every room has these chairs and table, right?" I nodded. "At each table you'll meet one of your, say… demons." I paled, causing Hilal to laugh once again. "When you finally deal with all of them, you'll be in the treasure room. But of course, for someone with such great transgressions as you, you could essentially be stuck here forever."

" _Fuck_." I cursed intelligently. I really didn't want to deal with this; I did enough of that each night when I couldn't sleep and my half-awake mind was whirling down the dark abyss of depression.

"Now, now, such vulgar language shouldn't come out of such a pretty little thing like you." Hilal chided, never ending amusement in his eyes. I stood up, picking up my things in the process.

"I'm going to get started. Anything else you want to add? Rub salt in the wound perhaps?" I asked. I probably shouldn't have provoked him, but I couldn't help it. I was going to submit myself to emotional torture in an attempt to save the world; or at the very least I hoped so.

"No, you already bandaged it up. We wouldn't want to make it worse." Hilal said with an almost singsong tone to his voice. He smiled innocently, but I knew better than trust him. I sighed at the bad joke before limping back to the door and opening it, dread at what lies beyond weighing me down.

I stepped out onto a floating platform, wind whipping my hair all over the place. I saw the table and chairs on another floating platform not too far off, but the rocky waters were wild in the wind. Looking around, I also saw shadows beneath the water. They were most likely some form of shark ready to gobble me up whole. I took a deep breath and held my hair out of my eyes. How was I going to get through this to the table to get this over with?

I looked around some more and found a rock jutting out of the water just close enough I could use it as a stepping stone. The only issue was that it was obviously wet and had a rather small surface that seemed to level out with the water around it in the lowest circumstances. The rock seemed a little too far from the other platform to immediately jump to, too. The shadows lurking in the depths caught my eye once more. I had some food with me. I could use them as a distraction to get a shark to float up to the surface to use as another stepping stone. I smiled with the plan, happy I got one out at all. I pulled my bag off one of my shoulders to grab a piece of jerky. It was rather convenient that we had these at the time.

Quickly unwrapping it, I leaped for the rock when it showed next. I didn't expect a shark to appear ready to eat me, though. It had jumped out of the water, precisely aimed to gobble me up in its stomach. I leaped lower than what was needed for the new obstacle, but clung to the shark's nose as tightly as I could while keeping my body as far away from the jaws I could muster. It fell back into the water again and the icy cold seeped into my bones quickly. My eyes stayed shut, I didn't need the fear of what was around me. I dropped the jerky and tried to swim to the surface, but the strap of my bag got caught on something. The ever changing waves tossed my body around even more now that I could hardly move. I felt where it was trapped, and luckily it didn't seem like a mouth. It was a rock instead.

My instinct to breathe drove my airways open; my better sense closing them as fast as possible. I couldn't see to untangle my bag, so I had to find something else. I found the weakest part of the strap, and began to fling my body weight as far away from it as possible. The strong tides and another rush of water, one accompanied with a presence, helped rip me free. I broke the surface; coughs of water spilling from my lungs. I was only a few feet from the other platform. I swam quickly, keeping a tight hold on my bag as well as struggling to breathe. One hand met wood, then the other. Just a small pull and I'd be safe on the platform. I tried to have myself up, but the water made me heavy. Once again, a push from below pushed me up and I rolled onto my hands and knees swiftly. I coughed up the last of the water, the wind chilling me even further.

Wiping my mouth, a slap to my behind startled me out of my survival panic. I scrambled into the chair, face alight and heart pumping pure terror into my veins. My eyes were wide and I was sure I looked rather stupid. Sitting across from me was Aaron, my grandmother's cousin. He was a balding old man with glasses and more strength he should have with his heart issues. The distinct memory of what happened with him flooded my mind and I coughed more, trying to get the rotten taste out of my mouth.

"Howdy, Brii!" He chirped happily. I stared at him in disbelief. _He touched me._

"Get the fuck out." I said automatically. It was knee jerk reaction, an instinct, but my guilt-ridden conscience twisted in my chest.

"I hope you're doing okay," He said, smiling although it didn't reach his eyes. My hands dug into the arms of the chair until my fingers were white and almost losing blood circulation.

"I hope you die from a heart attack soon." Once again a mechanical answer. It was trained, practiced, precisely as I wanted it to be. I gulped to get the excess saliva to go down my throat before it came out on him.

"You're looking nice," Aaron said. I was torn. My responses were hurtful on purpose, a defense mechanism really, but they were practiced to be used around others, around my family. I was alone and he was stronger; surely he'd use it against me as another reason to scar me.

"Th-thanks…" I stuttered out something neutral this time. His smile put me on edge the same way his presence did. I could still feel his tongue on mine; I couldn't look him in the eye.

"So about what happened…" Aaron started, but then trailed off with a sigh. He looked regretful.

"What you did is unforgiveable," I said, and was met with his full attention. I still wasn't comfortable. "You an adult and should have known it was wrong. I still beat myself up over not seeing the warning signs sooner and letting you do it." I took a breath. "But I have come to terms with it." I admitted what I expected to put an end to my misery. However, a foot trailed up my leg and made me stand up to get away from it. I glared down at him, resentment and anger in my expression.

"Brii, come on, you seemed to like-" I drew my sword once more, stabbing it into the table right next to his hand.

" _I was a naive and curious child, nothing more, nothing less._ " My voice was threatening, hatred ringing through the tone. My glare seemed to make him shiver and I put the sword back into its sheath. "Goodbye, I hope to never see you again." A door had appeared on the platform after I stood, and I took it as the immediate escape route away from _him_.

I slammed the door shut, the feeling reverberating through my body. A weight felt as if it was lifted off of my chest as my anger quickly faded. A loud sob quickly drew my attention to the table and chairs in this room. Turning, I saw snow was falling all around and it seemed to be wooded mountainous region here. The sobbing was coming from a girl younger than I was. She was a teenager, most likely barely turning thirteen, while I've turned into a young woman. Bright strawberry blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, pieces falling out of it here and there to cover her face, not that it was seen. She was hugging her knees, her feet on her chair, and glasses sat on the table. She was wearing dark clothes, including a t-shirt that seemed to be three sizes too big for her frame.

I slowly walked over and sat in my chair, setting my bag on the ground next to it. This got the girl's attention and she looked up quickly, tear stains on her pale freckled cheeks. She looked so sad and helpless. For a moment I forgot where I was and wondered why she was crying all alone in snowy woods.

"My life is in shambles," she suddenly sobbed out, "With every day, comes a new revelation that something went terribly wrong in my childhood. Molestation, poverty, death, what comes next?"

"Depression, denial, anxiety." I answered her honestly. This surprised her and she almost looked frightened. My chest began to feel heavy again. Not the light heavy-working of my fearful heart, but the sorrowful tug of it downwards toward the familiar black hole ever chasing me.

"What?" She asked, more tears flowing down her face. "But… But…"

"You're the manifestation of my depression." I stated, completely understanding this. "After that, I developed anxiety and denied my father's death for two years. During this, I gained a best friend. She helped me through it all, including the downfall of our academics and questioning family. Mom went back to college, got her degree, and now she's paid to tell the government how and why they went wrong and how they can fix it. I'm living with my best friend currently, and I finally have that cat I wanted." This was the extent of my life after my father's death. I knew that telling her things would get better wouldn't work, so I told her all the facts.

"R-really…?" She looked scared. The responsibility of the things I told her probably stressing her out. I nodded and stood, another door appearing.

"I know you aren't going to take my advice, so I'll just leave it at that. I hope you hang in there." I grabbed my bag and strode off to the door. My depression was something I didn't like to linger on, simply deal with when the need arose. Just before I did, a bear leapt out at me. I drew my sword, wildly slashing it about. I didn't make any cuts before the bear knocked the sword out of my hand by swiping at it, leaving behind a large gash. I pulled out the dagger, holding it clumsily in my left hand due to my right hurting too much to do anything. The bear reared back, and I took that change to lunge and stab the dagger into its heart. It fell back, my injured leg slamming heard against the ground. I crumbled to the ground as soon as I had to put my weight on it. Thankfully, the bear was dead and I wouldn't have to worry about it any more.

However, just as I was beginning to bandage my hand, I saw a small bear cub looking as if it was tearing up. Once it saw I noticed it, it ran off, high pitched wails of grief the only thing left in its wake. I looked at my hand and bandaged it without Neosporin. I deserved the pain for what I did. I stood up once I was finished, limping because of my leg again, and slowly opened the door. I used the frame to lean my weight against as I peered inside. This one seemed relatively peaceful. It was a rather green forest dotted with bloomed cherry blossom trees. Leaves and cherry blossoms slowly flittered to the ground. There was a small pond with a short waterfall next to the chairs. Flowers of various species and colors surrounded the small pool. Despite the peaceful atmosphere, I couldn't shake the feeling that there were enough people to make up a small crowd in there, although I saw no one.

I limped through, shutting the door behind me. As soon as I sat down, smoke from the opposite chair's skull wisped into the shape of someone who looked an awful lot like the grim reaper. It was difficult to see their face under the large hood pulled over their head. A long, flowy cloak shielded their figure from me as well.

"Hello…?" I asked tentatively. I wasn't entirely sure how to react to this presence. It somehow seemed familiar, but in a way that wasn't welcome. It was almost like a trigger for a bad memory that makes you cringe.

"Hello, Brii." The figure said. Their voice was strange. It sounded like hundreds of voices talking at once. A few distinct ones sounded eerily familiar.

"Who… What…" I didn't know what to say. It seemed to have perfect conversation though.

"I've been chasing after everyone you know, everyone in the world, since the day they were born." The figure spoke in riddles, but I had a sneaking suspicion I knew who, or what, it was. "You've always seemed to have a knack for seeing me around your loved ones, even as a child. The results of my presence usually cause you some trouble, sadly."

"You're death." I breathed the words out, disbelief read on my face.

"Your memory of me seems to have returned." Death said, giving off an air as if it was smiling at me. I wasn't sure how to react to a god basically giving me the look someone would give an old friend's or colleague's child. So instead of a proper response, I simply stammered a few empty syllables out. "Don't be so frightened and confused, Brii, I'm not here to take anyone."

"But why are you here? What are you doing? What's going on?" I rambled out useless question after question. For most of my life, every few years would mark another death of a family member; and I typically had this sixth sense about when they would die. My great grandmother, my grandfathers, and my father had all marked times in my life when this happened.

"I'm here as something troubling you, obviously." Death said, "You still have not completely come to terms with my existence."

"I understand you're a thing, so what does that mean?" I asked, confusion entwined in my tone.

"You'll have to figure that out."


	7. Chapter Six: A Check In and Back to Home

Chapter Six: A Check In and Back To Home

MD sat in Brii's room on her friend's bed. It's been a month since she left, and her heart still felt heavy with grief. She looked around, anger welling up in her at the fact her best friend left so suddenly without a goodbye. Dragon themed items were scattered around the room, superhero posters dotted her walls, and anime merchandise was displayed everywhere. Brii's desk was a mess as usual, plates and cans stacked up on the side, and there in the middle, right next to Brii's most prized possession, was that stupid book that started all of this. MD picked it up off the keyboard of the computer and stared at the cover.

 _The trilogy king and his kin will come forth. The lady of war will bring the court of evil._

"What does that even mean!?" MD suddenly shouted at the book. Frustration and hurt lined her features, her long brown hair messy from tugging at it. Her brown eyes were puffy and red from crying as well. The book remained stoic, though, and MD carelessly tossed it onto the bed, not wanting to deal with it. However, a bright light appeared afterwards. A knock on the door announced the arrival of someone.

"MD? Is everything alright?" Sinbad asked. He was concerned about her as she hadn't taken Brii's departure very easily. MD rushed out the door and slammed it shut as fast as possible. She looked up at the confused man next to her.

"We might have company." MD said, worried about who would pop out of the book next. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew who, though; and that wouldn't go down well.

"What?" Sinbad questioned, "What happened?" MD glanced at the door before looking at Sinbad again.

"The book," She answered. This obviously didn't answer Sinbad's question.

"What happened to it?" He asked, needing more information to act on.

"I threw it and I think I summoned more people." MD said. Thuds on the floor declared the people falling out of the light. MD tentatively cracked the door open to check on who it was, but Sinbad had other plans. He slammed the door open and stepped around MD and into the room in one graceful movement. MD's sight recognized red hair quickly between the gaps of Sinbad's figure and the door.

"Why did it have to be Kou?" MD groaned. She wasn't really up to putting up with this rivalry and couldn't wait until Brii was home to help mediate. She really wished she'd hurry up.

* * *

I stared at the figure in front of me for what seemed like an eternity. I simply could not figure out what it was that I was supposed to do here. I've mourned for my father's death over the past eleven years, which put me in a startlingly aware state of human beings' mortality and fragile state of being, mentally and physically. Death simply stared back, watching me closely, watching for any sign of recognition. When it didn't see what it was searching for, it sighed.

"You need to accept your own life before you can continue on," Death's riddles were confusing me. What did that mean? As if reading my mind, Death continued, "You've expected a premature death every since the age of thirteen. You never thought you'd make it this far, and yet you have."

It was true. My mother suspected I was suicidal for a while during my depression before MD finally broke me out of it two years later. I distinctly remember questioning myself on how to get a blade to cut myself, not that I ever went through with that plan due to the fact I didn't like pain. I always saw my future simply ending after highschool, with at most a short epilogue of a plan after that. Not to mention, I never really think of myself as worthy of anything due to small mistakes that everyone makes. I've always used MD as a way to ignore my own suicidal thoughts, to forget about them and push them down until I needed to shove them farther down.

"I'm alive…" I mumbled out and Death nodded in agreement. I grew bolder, inspiration seemingly seeping into my bones, twirling around the embedded anger and sorrow. "I'm living, surviving. Some even say I'm thriving." Most of my life has simply been a survival game, and that's what I tended to focus on. I put all my energy into keeping my head above the waves of life and not being dragged down into depression and stress.

"You need to live," Death said, "before you can say you've died." In that moment, I heard my father speaking. I felt his presence, the same one that molded me into so much of what I am now. The patience of a father and mediator filled the air, faded memories surfacing and then disappearing just as fast as they came. This obviously wasn't all that was going to go into this, but I was going to sure put some effort into it. The figure vanished into thin air, leaving behind only the feeling of a small crowd and nostalgia.

"Awwwww, that was almost no fun!" Hilal's voice echoed into the room. "You handled them way to quickly, what kind of narcissistic person are you?" He wisped into existence across me in a manner similar to Death, looking very obviously disappointed with my reactions.

"I do a lot to make sure that my 'demons' don't get the better of me, Hilal," I said calmly. I felt the need to be mature around him, almost acting as an authority figure to make sure he didn't do too much damage on the world around him. It was strange having a vague mother-like instinct. Hilal sighed across from me.

"Fine," He sounded extremely dejected. "I suppose you still conquered my dungeon." With a snap of his fingers, we were in the treasure room. A wave of energy flooded through the room and the stone treasures turned to gold. I had never seen so much potential money in one place and my jaw dropped. Suddenly, the realization of what really happened just now fell onto my shoulders. I willingly ran straight into a place known for death to gain a tool meant to build a country. I wasn't no where near fit to be a king vessel, much less fit to try to conquer something this physically demanding. Thankfully, most of it was just sitting and talking about psychology, my specialties. I slumped forward in my chair, gripping my hair in an almost painful grip as the anxiety finally caught up with me.

"Oh my god…" I rasped out between uneven breaths. "I could have died! I was almost eaten by a shark! Jesus Christ!" I was such an idiot. _Why did I think this was a good idea? Why didn't I let MD talk me out of this?_ While even more unwelcome thoughts whirled around my mind, Hilal seemed to be taken aback by my actions. Through the blurry and vague visual sensory input I was able to process; he looked confused as to why I was panicking. At least, I assumed that was the reason he would have been confused in a situation like this. I was too consumed panicking to really put much thought into it.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "Most people are ecstatic after getting to the treasure room to get the Djinn. You're a really weird girl, aren't you?" Hilal wasn't grasping my state of mind at all.

"I could have died," I repeated, my voice nothing but a whisper, "I would have never seen MD again and I just ran out of the house like a maniac." Hilal sighed, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair. He was obviously annoyed. I snapped my head up quickly after another moment of self doubt and panic, set on getting back home to settle back into my bed and be with my friend. _Friends._ I had to correct myself in my head. "I need to get out of here, do your thing, whatever, I need to _go_." I stood up and began to pace around the room, nervous energy pushing me to move.

"Oh, so _now_ you want my services?" He asked, his eyes alight with mischief yet again at my sudden change in attitude. "Well, fine then, you did prove yourself to be a good king vessel of course, or should I call you a _queen_ vessel?" Hilal snickered at his own joke.

"Just please get me out of here." I pleaded, anxiously biting on a nail that was already bitten down to the point there was no white. The finger belonged to just so happened to be the finger my ring was on. My ring was something I've been wearing since I was thirteen. It was one of the last things my father gave to me before his death and I hardly take it off, the groove on my finger proof of that enough. It was sterling silver, since I was allergic to nickel, and in the center it had an aquamarine gem that could have also just been colored glass. On either side of the gem that may not be a gem, were two Celtic knot trifectas. My father said it was to signify that our family would never end, but that was a debate for another day.

"Alright, alright, princess," Hilal huffed, eying my ring. "That's a pretty piece of jewelry you got there, with a pretty piece of history, too." I looked up at him and nodded. "So that'll be my home." With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a column of blue light. However, my ever reeling mind also felt the need to ask about something else.

"Wait, wait, wait, before I go back, I want to know how having a djinn works," I said, realizing then that my phrasing isn't what I was trying to convey, "Actually, no, I want to know how _you_ work."

"My, my, you're a smart cookie," Hilal grinned, "Well, princess, I should just send you on your way, but I was going to talk about this myself. Oh, that's right, I never officially introduced myself." Clearing his throat in an over the top manner, he continued with an equally ridiculous and formal voice, "I am Hilal, a djinn made by Master Solomon of Trickery and Leadership. _What a concept am I right?_ " He whispered the last sentence as if to mock someone who was in the room, "I 'work' by choosing of any of the eight magics depending on the situation. I'll always choose what you don't expect, or your adversaries anyways." He looked me up and down thoughtfully. "Although, I do need a default magic for when your magoi's low…"

"Well if it's trickery, go for strength magic," I said, "I'm weak enough and small enough that it'll probably work." It was a bit of a long shot, but I really just wanted it to be able to carry some gold, and by some gold I meant a huge bag of it, home to put into my savings account. Or to be able to retire early.

"I like how you think. Strength magic it is!" Hilal said triumphantly. "Good luck getting that bag of gold to the light." I rolled my eyes and went about my business gathering the inevitable money I'd make. I laid out a sheet that seemed to come with the room next to the light while I threw various valuable things in its direction. I even came out of it with some pretty jewels in my pocket. I cleaned up the pile, tied the sheet as best I could and stepped in the light. Hilal sent me on my way looking a little displeased I didn't struggle as much as he thought I would.

Now in a ditch where the dungeon was, I nervously looked around for any on lookers, only to be greeted by the glorious sight of night time and one sleeping cop to the side. Although I must have been in there for quite some time if there was only one guard. I simply equipped a half-djinn equip as fast as I could figure out how, which happened to be a silver glove on my left with a light blue stone right in the middle of the back of the hand, and disappeared into the night to go back home.

The walk back home was uneventful until I reached the door. The bag I had very obviously wouldn't fit in the front doorway, but I couldn't just leave it outside either. Sighing, I decided to risk waking people up by opening the garage door just enough to shove the bag inside the garage for later and then closed and locked it again. I waited outside for awhile, scared of going in when people would be more easily roused than before due to the fact I knew I'd be easy to spot for half of them anyways, Jafar and Masrur especially.

After an hour, I deemed it safe to return inside. I treaded as quietly as I could manage in the slowly dozing state I was in, only half noticing how the multitude of bodies seemed to have almost doubled in the dark. I made my up to my room, my glorious fortress of solitude, opened the door almost a bit too hastily, and unceremoniously dumped my backpack onto the ground. Kicking my shoes off and setting my glasses on my desk, I flopped onto the bed uncaring if it was unmade, which it seemed to be with the massive lump under me which I could only assume was my comforter in a ball. Sleep took me quickly and I could care less if MD yelled at me in the morning for not waking her up to announce my arrival back home.

* * *

"She's not safe there…" The soft whisper reached my ears, but my mind wasn't fully ready to get up. Instead, I pushed my face further into the moving covers of my bed.

"Quiet, or you'll wake them both up!" A more urgent and much less hushed whisper sounded from my door way.  
"Brother En's already up, you idiots." This voice didn't even try to be quiet.

I tried to ignore it and fall asleep again, but my covers moved again. It took me a moment to register that my covers shouldn't be moving. Blearily looking up, colors blurred to show red hair and the bright light from my window. The more firm feeling of my hand resting against a chest of someone is what jolted me awake and to the realization that I was on top of someone. And the lack of boobs led me to conclude that this person was male.

A shriek tore through my throat before I could help it and I scrambled off the bed, somehow managing to flip halfway onto my back before the person in question grabbed me around the middle to stop me from falling. My own hand flew out to try and catch myself on the desk before I knew what was happening, but it ended up just banging on the edge. Considering it was my right hand that was injured, I immediately recoiled in pain and back onto the bed. Sadly, that still left me on top of the person already in it.

"I didn't sign up for this." I grumbled out, voice raspy and angry. This morning was already proving to be a pain.


	8. Chapter Seven: The Two King's Perspectiv

Chapter Seven: The Two King's Perspective

Kouen had been woken up in the middle of the night by a sudden weight on his chest. His eyes had flown open, only to star into the inky blackness of the ceiling above him for a moment before moving down to see what had landed on him. He found a petite girl had been the culprit. The absence of immediate pain told him that whatever or whoever this was, was most likely safe, but the smell of blood that hung in the air was odd. Even through the darkness, Kouen could make out the girl's light purple hair, a tell-tale sign that she was the missing homeowner that he couldn't remember the name of. All he remembered about her was that she had left to conquer a dungeon by the time he and his siblings had arrived. The bandages around her hand and leg seemed to be covering fresh wounds.

Kouen contemplated waking the girl up so she could move, or simply moving himself, but he decided that he would let the girl sleep on him for the night. Kouen hoped to improve his chances of getting her as his ally against Sinbad. After all, the other young woman they had been graciously allowed to stay here seemed to be rather close to the purple haired king. And so, Kouen laid there with the mystery dungeon girl on his chest, trying to go back to sleep.

"Trying" being the key word.

Kouen was never all that good with manners and people in general, so the only people to ever really get close to him in any sense of the term were his siblings and occasionally palace servants. This made having a complete stranger lying on top of him rather unnerving. The girl was obviously harmless, especially asleep, but that didn't stop his anxiety. Although, the lilac haired girl suddenly sitting up and staring at him made him jump just a bit; never enough to be seen, though.

"Do you think the Kou Empire plans on using those zombies to create zombie apocalypses in other countries?" She asked; her dark blue eyes wide and with an intensity of curiosity Kouen had never seen the likes of before. He figured that his siblings must have seen it on him before, though.

Kouen was taken aback. How did she know about top secret Kou matters? She shouldn't have any idea that the facility existed, much less what was inside. She gasped a moment later, suddenly struck by an incredible revelation it seemed like.

"And then they could offer help controlling them and conquer the country that way!" A yawn seemed to interrupt her thought process, "But the uniforms on the zombies would probably give it away…" Kouen noticed that her eyes were drooping again, but even more so seemed to have no recognition in her face as to who he was. They were glassy and slipped closed before he even had the opportunity to interrogate her about her knowledge.

Needless to say, Kouen couldn't find the peace of mind to fall back to sleep with a woman who could potentially put his entire nation at risk lying on top of him.

* * *

Whispering jarred the half-awake Kouen to vigilance, his trained instincts immediately zeroing in on the source of the intrusion. Yamraiha and Sharrkan were at the door, whispering to each other as his normal glare hardened onto his features. The only light that spilled into the room was through gaps in the curtains on the window and the door that was now opened. Kouen must have dozed off enough that he barely remembers much happening after the young woman's "conversation." Then again, nothing would have happened anyways. The two at the two quieted down when Kouha came up behind them.

"Brother En's already up, you idiots," Kouha snickered behind them, completely disregarding his volume. This seemed to jar the woman on Kouen's chest awake. With a screech, she tried to roll off of him, but Kouen's hand robotically went to grab her waist to keep her falling. Her own instincts battled against her as she blindly reached for the edge of the desk to catch herself, but instead just ended up slamming her injured hand _hard_ into the corner. Kouha found the display rather amusing and laughed at the wounded woman currently curling in on herself from the pain flaring from her hand.

"I didn't sign up for this," She muttered, blearily wiping at her eyes to apparently gain some sort of eyesight back. With newfound sensibility, she moved off of Kouen, hopping on one foot to the chair of her desk. Kouen decided that it wouldn't be too much trouble to use Phenex to heal her wounds to gain some ground in gaining an ally. Kouen moved to sit up. In doing so, the girl noticed his presence and, now that she had her glasses, looked shocked as to whom exactly she woke up on top of.

"Yeah, you did. You touched the book first," MD retorted from the doorway, a bittersweet look of nostalgic recognition on her face. The lilac haired girl looked at her so fast it almost looked like her neck would snap.

"I'm so sorry!" She immediately said, worry etched into her worryingly pale features. She held her arms out for a hug like a child. "I won't do it again, I promise!" MD had rushed to her friend's side, fretting over her like a mother. Kouha plopped onto the bed next to Kouen, bouncing with the force of his fall.

"So are you're Brii?" Kouha asked the pale girl. She nodded in response, claiming the name as her own. Kouen felt better knowing her name now, able to finally associate a proper name with her instead of "purple haired girl." "And you conquered a dungeon?" Kouha bounced excitedly looking at Brii with enthusiasm.

"Well-"

"Oh my god your leg!" MD cried out, seeing how the blood was beginning to make a small puddle on the floor. She immediately started to try to stop the blood flow. Brii didn't seem all that phased by the sight of blood and actually seemed intrigued, almost excited.

"That's so much blood," Brii remarked, actually moving her leg to watch the blood pool in the wound better.

"You like blood?" Kouen asked, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

"I like seeing myself bleed, but not others," She said honestly, then continued a moment later after a pause, "Is that being a masochist?" Kouen was surprised at her answer. She liked pain? That wasn't something typically seen in a woman.

"I'll go get Yamraiha!" MD said, standing up after she successfully plugged the wound. Brii looked at her best friend, confused.

"Why don't we just ask Kouen to fix it?" Brii asked calmly, "He has a Djinn with the healing magic stuff and he fixed a broken arm in no time before." The young woman obviously wasn't entirely awake yet. Kouen was told that she knew about Space-Time magic, and seeing as it was a subtype of magic, she most likely knew the names of the others. She seemed to know almost everything.

"It's true," Kouen said, reaching for Phenex's metal vessel by the head of the bed. "I'm willing to do it." He focused his energy and performed the act of healing before MD could protest. Kouen even healed her hand for good measure, really trying to make a good first impression. Brii experimentally stood up and tested her weight, finding that everything was now healed properly.

"Thanks, Kouen!" Brii chirped happily. Kouen nodded in response to lilac-haired girl. MD sighed in relief knowing her friend was fine.

"Thank you," MD told Kouen herself. Kouen simply nodded again.

 _RRRRR!_

"So when's food coming?" Kouha asked from the bed, his grin never faltering.

"I'll go cook right now." MD said, walking out of the room to cook.

"So uh, hi," Brii said, "I'm Brii and I already know your names. Sorry, but I'm going to go help her." With that, she left Kouha and Kouen in her room. Kouen needed an ally and found Brii to be perfect person to fit the bill.

* * *

"What happened?" Sinbad asked Sharrkan in a hushed town behind the house. Brii, one of the girls who he thought was his ally, was apparently fraternizing with the enemy. He was worried, not only for the girl's health, but also if he was losing an important ally; to _Kouen_ of all people. Sinbad's pride simply wouldn't allow it, especially if it was a woman slipping through his grip. Then again, she never seemed overly fond of him even with the fleeting moments he got to see her. She seemed to avoid everyone out of fear.

"She fell asleep on top of him," Sharrkan repeated. "We went to check on Brii when Masrur told us she came back last night, and she was just right on top of him. What do we do?" Sinbad's gut twisted with these facts. Brii had to have asked him about it, unless she wasn't aware of the situation she had been at the time. Dungeons can be tiring, so it's possible Brii was so tired she didn't even see Kouen in her bed before she just fell asleep. If it wasn't dangerous being caught practicing magic here, Sinbad would have asked Yamraiha to show them what happen.

"We'll just have to ask her about it." Sinbad decided. It was the best course of action here. Sinbad could always charm his way out of a situation if he needed to.

"Ask me what?" Brii asked, making the two of them jump. She was leaning out of the house through the backdoor. Noises of their friends and enemies mingling within their groups spilled out of the open door into the backyard. Brii's face changed to concerned when she saw them jump. "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing!" Sharrkan rapidly replied. Brii didn't seem convinced at all.

"Well, come get food," Brii said, moving back inside and raising her volume to accommodate the new obstacle, "MD should be almost done making breakfast!" Sharrkan and Sinbad followed the girl inside and Sharrkan closed the door behind them. Brii was seated in an easy chair, eating the small amount of breakfast she wanted. She seemed to be thinking rather hard. Before Sinbad got the chance to talk to her, MD called him.

"Sinbad, hurry up before it's gone!" MD yelled out from the kitchen. Sinbad decided that his own basic needs were more important than asking Brii about the look and walked into the kitchen. MD was the girl who Sinbad was certain he could bed before he left, he was a man with needs after all. He was also positive that she was his ally. He smiled at MD as he walked in and gratefully took the plate of food she held out to him.

"Thank you for your generosity," Sinbad said warmly. MD smiled back up at him.

"Of course! It's the least we can do to feed you since we don't even know how to send you back yet," She replied. MD grabbed a plate of food for herself. Together, she and Sinbad walked into the living room with the rest of the mishmash group of people to eat with them. Sinbad's sight immediately locked onto Brii sitting next to none other than the imperial first prince of the Kou Empire, Kouen Ren. Sinbad's insides twisted at the friendly nature of things between the pair.

"That's a rather small metal vessel." Hinahoho commented as they walked in, focusing his gaze on Brii's ring.

"Well, it's the only thing I'm always wearing, so it was kind of an obvious choice," Brii said bashfully. She was the center of attention and she seemed to struggling with it.

"It's a lovely ring," Sinbad said as he sat in one of the mismatched chairs. The silver was indeed beautiful with the light blue stone set into it.

"Thanks," Brii flushed with the compliment given. She was rather quiet and not really eating her food.

"Tell us more about the dungeon!" Kouha almost sang his demand, bouncing on the floor where he was sitting.

"Well, um…" Brii looked lost. MD rose to the challenge of getting her out of the situation, though, much to the shorter girl's relief.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Brii." MD said, "You did just get back, you should relax." Brii nodded in agreement with her statement.

"Sounds good to me."

"Awwwww, but I wanted to know!" Kouha whined.

"I'll write it down when I remember and give it to you to read. How's that?" Brii suggested for a compromise.

"We can't read the same language as you." Kouen said bluntly. _Does he have no tact?_ Sinbad thought, even though the very obvious answer to the question was yes.

"What are yo-?" Brii stopped mid sentence as she seemed to remember something, "Oh yeah…" Koumei nodded from beside Kouen.

"It's been fine for us, we've been more than happy to guess what things mean," Sinbad said, smiling. It was his chance to one up Kouen, to get the girl back on his side. However, before Brii could respond, Kouen cut in.

"Not everyone can be as mindless as you, Sinbad." Kouen said coldly. Sinbad's pride immediately forced him to rebuke the remark as fast as it came.

"I apologize for mimicking your fighting style," Sinbad replied suavely. Koumei and Kouha looked outraged at Sinbad and the Eight Generals looked ready to fight if they needed to. Brii put her hand over Kouen's mouth before he could speak.

"Alright, boneheads, we get it. You hate each other." She said simply, "I don't care, though, and you will not fight or argue under my roof, got it?" Brii spoke with a tone of authority, one with an edge her nervous posture obviously didn't back up.

"I'm sorry for the problem," Sinbad said. He didn't want to make her angry, especially not now. Sinbad needed her as an ally and if he didn't make him self more appealing than Kouen, which he felt should have been the situation from the start, then she'd join his enemy's side.

"Kouen?" Brii asked, looking at the red headed prince. Kouen silently nodded due to the hand over his mouth. He hadn't attempted once to remove it. With a sigh of relief, Brii removed her hand, "Thank you…"

Sinbad simply began to plot how to get the girl on his side once and for all. He could use Zepar, but his current line up of people under his control was very delicate and needed. He'd have to do this on his own.

And in the back of Sinbad's mind, he questioned himself yet again on how dark he's become as a king.


	9. Chapter Eight: Part One

**A/N: I'm really sorry about the delay on this chapter. There's been a lot of chaos in my life due to moving and the inspiration and motivation for writing this chapter cam e short more often than not. Despite that, this is ten pages (technically a little over nine) in Microsoft Word, so I hope that helps make up for the long wait. It's also going to be continued in the next chapter, so it's a two parter! I promise that I will work harder on getting chapters up here.**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Icebreakers and Romantic Tension

"Well I'm going to go to my room now…" I said, standing from the couch I was sitting on to set my plate in the kitchen. After conquering a dungeon and waking up to chaos, I was drained and ready to go hide for eternity.

"No you aren't!" MD suddenly declared loudly, standing in my way of leaving the room. I paused and blinked up at her without comprehension. Seeing this, she continued with her accusation, "You left me without a goodbye to go into a fucking death trap that kept you for two weeks, do you really think I'm letting you go that easily!?" Her voice was loud and upset. I felt my gut twist uncomfortably as I stared at her.

"I'm sorry…" I immediately said, head lowering in regret. A sly smile nearly split MD's face in half as she threw her arm around me casually. _Oh no_ , I thought, _that's the look of…_

"So I heard you slept with Kouen last night," MD practically sang the taunt into my ear. Everyone was staring at us at this point, some people even laughing such as Judal and Kouha, and that coupled with the insinuation in her voice led my face to flushing a violent shade of red in almost no time. Before I could stop myself, I ripped myself away from the taller girl and almost ran into the kitchen to put my plate away.

"I will fucking murder you and eat the remains!" I threatened loudly. MD cackled from the living room, knowing it was just another empty threat. I quickly set my plate in the sink before joining the others in the living room again.

"You love me," MD said, her arm slinging around my shoulders again. Someone cleared their throat and my short attention span jumped to search for who it was. Sinbad was the culprit and apparently he didn't want to be ignored any more.

"Why don't you join us?" He suggested politely. Before I could answer, MD was stealing the change to talk.

"Oh, she'll be joining us. I won't let her run." MD said, her grip tightening around me. I simply glared at the floor at the predicament I was in.

"Great!" Sinbad said. I could hear his politician smile and it ate away me, making familiar anger bubble under my skin.

"She shouldn't be forced to be here after conquering a dungeon," Kouen spoke up then, giving me false hope, "She's probably tired and ready to rest." Something about his demeanor gave a sense of an ulterior motive, but I ignored that in favor of the help I was getting to run away.

"She's gone entire days without sleep, she's fine." MD debunked harshly. I groaned; it was evident that I wasn't getting out of socializing today.

"Wait, has anyone checked on the book lately?" I asked. "We should do that, I'll go do that." I effectively broke from her hold and ran to the stairs, but not before miraculously tripping on my own two feet and falling face first into the ground. Still determined to get away and deciding standing would take too much time and make me vulnerable, I rose to all fours and tried to crawl away as fast as I could. MD grabbed my ankles and yanked me back to the group. I clawed at the floor as if it would help my escape anyways. "I dodged nine people, I can dodge seven more!" I protested loudly, a pleasurable scratch reverberating from my voice box. Despite being so shy and introverted, screaming often felt good.

"No you can't!" MD argued back, "I won't let you!"

"Why!?" I demanded. Usually I was left to my own devices and no one bothered me, which was perfectly fine with me.

"Because your future husband is one of the new people!" MD said. She sounded very determined to get Kouen and I to date. I had a crush on Kouen, he was even my favorite Magi character before this all started, but I didn't feel a need to be in a relationship with him now that he was real. In response to her comment, I went completely limp, my face dropping on the floor with a _clack_ from my glasses.

"Ya know, I'm surprised she didn't escape," Sharrkan said. He sounded like he was really thinking hard about this, "She managed to dodge all of us before when she left for the dungeon."

"That's true," Drakon agreed with him.

"So she's a good escape artist?" Kouha asked.

"You could say that," Hinahoho answered Kouha simply.

"See? They- hey, wait!" MD protested right behind me, prompting me to look up at what made her upset. Before I could really register what was going on, I was being lifted off the ground and held bridal style. Reflexively, I clung to whoever picked me up as the sudden gain in height startled me and drove a pang of panic into my chest. Looking up to check who it was, I found Kouen to be culprit of this impromptu escape.

"I'll make sure she comes down later to talk everyone," Kouen said, "For now she needs rest." I looked at MD for her reaction and I could tell she was trying her hardest not to look excited. She groaned convincingly in exasperation, though. Kudos to her for that much.

"Fine, don't let her sleep past noon." MD sighed. I silently curled a little further into myself, contact with men usually didn't last this long and I was beginning to get uncomfortable. People were also staring at us, which didn't help in the slightest. Kouen nodded and turned to walk up the stairs, aiming me perfectly at everyone seated in the living room. Kouha looked like he wanted to cheer Kouen on, and the eight generals all looked to be some mixture of worried and betrayed. Sinbad's hand was clenched and despite his calm and accepting demeanor, I felt a lividness coming from him.

Kouen set me on my feet as he entered my room and took a few steps away from him. I gave an awkward laugh as I rubbed the back of my neck and hugged myself around the middle.

"Heheh, thanks…" I mumbled, not entirely sure of his intentions simply carrying me off from everyone.

"You're welcome," Kouen replied, sitting on my bed. I stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do. The last time I was alone with a man, I had been molested, so this type of situation didn't exactly read positive to my fight or flight response. In fact, it was very much the opposite of that. "You look very tense, you should sit down." Kouen suggested. He genuinely seemed to be worried about me, or at the least trying to be nice. I took the suggestion and sat in my desk chair, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my heels on the seat.

"Right, um…" I didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Kouen began to talk before I could make myself look an idiot even more.

"I was thinking we could get to know each other," Kouen started, "Naturally, it's easiest without so many distractions around, specifically Sinbad." I couldn't help but snicker a little; I didn't like Sinbad as much as Kouen did. Something about Sinbad just always frustrated me.

"Okay, well…" I thought for a moment before continuing, "You know my name's Brii, I'm pretty sure you can tell a lot from my bedroom, especially if you've been staying here." Kouen nodded.

"I can tell that you certainly like dragons." He said. I smiled, I loved dragons and they were all over my room.

"Yeah…" I trailed off, "What do you want to know?"

"How do you know so much about us?" Kouen asked. I could see the curiosity in his posture.

"My little secret," I responded, "Anything else?"

Kouen and I talked for what felt like hours. Topics ranged from theorizing about how to get them back (we even checked on the book once I remembered about it. It turns out that _is_ a journal and is keeping track of everything going on with all of the Magi-verse inhabitants and myself in the third person.), history, and just little things about ourselves. It was rather nice to talk to a new person and feel ten times closer to them than before the conversation. I even got Kouen to chuckle a few times with my jokes. An insistent beating of my heart made me worried, though. I knew that feelings for Kouen would most likely come to be if he was staying in my room, it was a simple scientific fact based on how physically close you are to someone, but I didn't want them to become anything that would make me want to act on them. Besides, statistically speaking, it was most likely just infatuation at play and nothing serious.

* * *

A hand on my ankle barely registered in my half-awake mind, but being dragged across the floor into sunlight definitely got my attention. I groaned and slapped at the air in the direction of the culprit and clung to my pillow tighter.

"Kouen, I don't wanna…" I grumbled, my eyes squinting to get rid of the obnoxious light.

"You need to get up, it's almost ten." Kouen said, very obviously annoyed I wasn't moving yet. I grumbled some more, knowing he wasn't going to leave me alone.

"Close the curtains and I'll get up." I said, my mind already beginning to drift into sleep. I kept myself awake, though.

"No, get up now." Kouen demanded.

"That's the only way I'm getting up," I slurred my reply. I winced when I opened an eye, the light stabbing into my skull. Kouen sighed and closed the curtains. I sat up and stretched out my back. "Okay, I'm up. What did you want?" I yawned half way through my sentence, but simply continued to talk through it.

"I thought you wanted me to help you with your metal vessel?" Kouen asked.

"Oh yeah…" I mumbled, climbing to my feet. "Let me changed and then we'll go." Kouen nodded and left the room to let me get dressed. Even with him out there, I locked my door to make sure no one would come in. With so many people here, I felt unusually vulnerable. I opened my closet door to my dresser. The door was one of the kind that slides to side to side to reveal which part of your closet you want. Half of my closet was currently being taken up by a mattress topper serving as my bed. I tried to make Kouen as comfortable in my room as possible, which also meant giving him my bed. I didn't really mind, especially since he let me play music at night to help me sleep. Compromises, man.

"Okay, I'm done," I said, poking my head out into the hall. Kouen nodded and I followed him down the stairs and past the kitchen to the front door. I grabbed my keys from the hook on the door, but another member of the Kou Empire stopped me from leaving by clinging to me from the side. I decided to ignore the awkward combination of a choke and shriek I let out as my hand gripped the person's arm.

"I wanna see you beat things up, too!" Kouha whined. He was getting antsy from the lack of violence and action. Videogames helped his urges somewhat, but it was still getting to him. Kouen looked down at Kouha with a commanding look.

"Let Brii go, Kouha," Kouen's voice sounded like a warning, "The last time you went into public here, you almost blew our cover." It's true; Kouha had nearly cut down a tree and stabbed a person when I took Kou to get new clothes. It's a memory I didn't really want to linger on. Kouha pouted at the unspoken punishment for his actions, though. I didn't want him to dislike his time here, though.

"When I can actually hold my own in a fight, I'll let you come as my sparring partner, okay?" I bargained. Kouha's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the thought.

"Awesome!" Kouha agreed excitedly, "See this is why I like Brii better than you, Brother En." Kouha stuck his tongue out at Kouen, the playful jab his brother not really serious, but Kouen lightly smacked Kouha in the head anyways. Kouha yelped at the attack. Soon enough, the brothers were arguing just like any other siblings I've seen.

"You shouldn't just give into him like that," Koumei said from beside me. He was holding a mug of what I assumed was tea by the smell. I jumped a little at his sudden entrance, but blamed it on my habit of focusing on things too much. In this case, that happened to be Kouen and Kouha.

"Eh, he needs it," I waved the notion off, "Besides, it's kinda fun having him around. It's like having a little brother I never had." It was really nice feeling like I had a family again. I had a family, just not in the way I wanted, really. I've almost completely separated myself from them already. The phrase got both Kouen and Kouha's attention immediately.

"If you'd like, I could call you sister!" Kouha proclaimed happily. I didn't want to make him feel like he need to, so despite his unwavering gaze, I rose my hands in a that's okay gesture.

"No, you don't have-" I didn't even finish my sentence before I was tackled with another hug and my balance was threatened.

"You're always welcome in our family, Sis Brii!" Kouha declared, bouncing. I laughed a little at his childish antics.

"And I was adopted," I chuckled. I had really grown attached to the Ren family. I did my best to make sure that everything was fine with all of them and that they were comfortable. They seemed to appreciate my kindness quite a bit, probably even more so since I was most likely one of the few people who met Sinbad first and still didn't judge or hate their country. Kouen knew of my feelings about the way he treats the cultures he conquers, but he respected my opinion just as much as I at least tried to respect his.

"He speaks the truth," Kouen suddenly said, "We'll gladly help if you ever need it." Kouen looked very determined to make sure I knew this and I nodded, still in Kouha's grip.

"Thanks," I said, "Really." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Koumei and Hakuei, the latter of whom was in the kitchen, exchange a gaze that said they knew something that I didn't. I shrugged it off for now, though.

"Now let go so Brii and I can leave, Kouha," Kouen turned his attention to his younger brother.

"I don't wanna," Kouha whined.

" _Kouha_ ,"

* * *

"Remind me again what this is?" Kouen asked, standing at the passenger side. It took a few minutes to leave the house with Kouha's interference and persistence that he wanted to come, but Kouen somehow managed to get him stay home with my promise that I'd spar with him later. I sat in the car and reached over to open his door from the inside. For some reason Kouen didn't think he could open the door on his own. Whether it was from being a prince or simply being unused to technology remained to be seen.

"It's called a car," I said as Kouen clumsily climbed into the passenger side seat. He was very out of his element when it came to big technology like this. I simply smiled as I tugged my seatbelt around myself and gestured for him to the same. "Trust me, it's not too bad. The only thing to worry about is other drivers being idiots and them crashing into us. I'm a perfectly save driver, though."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better," Kouen said drily, struggling to clip his seat belt in. I reached over and guided his hand to properly click it in.

"There ya go," I said, "And why wouldn't that make you feel better? I thought you trusted me! I'm offended." I gave an overdramatic pout before concentrating on backing out of the driveway. I had to wait for the red car to drive by before finally getting onto to the open road of our quiet neighborhood.

"That's too bad," Kouen said. I could hear the faint amusement in his voice, letting me know that he knew I was joking. I smiled at the thought; I had to admit that making a new close friend has been nice. I was physically comfortable around Kouen at this point, which was saying something with my past experiences with men and my habit of holding a grudge. Honestly, men made me very uncomfortable in general at this point, but Kouen somehow managed to get past that and I appreciated it more than he'd ever know.

A comfortable silence settled between us and I took the time to think a little. I had scoped out possible training places a few days before; something barren and secluded so people wouldn't be around to make me feel embarrassed and they wouldn't be able to connect us to the dungeon. I found a place not too far from the road, too, that people hardly visited.

These past few weeks had been especially challenging. Sinbad and Kouen seemed to have this rivalry that went into their very being and it's been difficult playing peacekeeper between them. Separating them was really the only way they'd chill out and MD and I took it upon ourselves to take one king's candidate each to watch over. Thankfully, the subordinates and family of these two idiotic king's candidates didn't fight too much. Sinbad and MD had gotten extremely close during my time in the dungeon and with even more time together, they actually began dating. MD had told the Magi-inhabitants about our more casual form of courting and Sinbad had taken the opportunity for a "hands-on learning experience." I'm pretty sure he wanted to be hands-on with MD's breasts, but I digress. Other things have been coming up recently, too. I checked the book out and apparently it's been recording everything that happened since they've been here, it really did seem to be a journal; just a magical journal. I also did my best to periodically take the dungeon gold to pawn it off for cash at different places so I wouldn't be suspicious for the sheer amount of gold I brought in. At least we were living comfortably again and not pressed for cash.

I pulled off the road next to a nice and large plain for minimal damage, stopping my thoughts in the process. I subtly unclipped Kouen's seatbelt for him before he'd complain and climbed out myself, not before he was able to glare at me for babying him, though. I snickered at his bitterness. I stretched and walked further into the field, Kouen trailing behind me. When I finally popped my back, I turned to face him. Apparently, he was staring at me.

"So, uh…" I mumbled, uncertainty washing over me. Kouen's stare was unnerving me. He looked expectant, as if I knew what to do already. I swung my arms back and forward, clapping my hands when they met before lacing my fingers and resting my arms downwards. I began to rock on my feet, nerves getting to me.

"I thought you were going to practice?" Kouen asked me. Something in his tone sparked an annoyance, as if I wasn't living up to his expectations. I never liked people's expectations of me.

"I am, I just…" I trailed off; thinking of what was really my problem. It was because I felt exposed here. Not only was I physically out in the open, far away from any sort of hiding place or object to obscure my identity, but I was also in a situation that I could possibly embarrass myself in front of a friend, someone I respected and wished for them to do the same to me. "Didn't really plan on an _audience_ , per se…" I had genuinely thought Kouen would be the teacher, not the observer.

"As a king's candidate, you'll have an audience wherever you go," Kouen said wisely. I knew this, but I wasn't really a king's candidate if you thought about it. I was just an idiot how just so happened to conquer a dungeon. My world wasn't suited for a king's candidate anyways; I would be called a dictator if I just took over a country.

"I don't have an audience when I'm alone in my room wasting my life away watching YouTube when I should be studying for college," I challenged. It was my favorite pastime of course; avoiding others was my specialty. Kouen narrowed his eyes at me. Whether they were calculating or frustrated, I couldn't tell.

"And you are not in your room 'wasting your life away' watching 'YouTube' when you should be studying for college," Kouen said, annoyance clear in his tone despite his voice faltering a little at certain phrases. "You are in a field." _Thanks for the help, Sherlock,_ I thought sarcastically. I used both arms and hands to gesture to the imperial prince.

"With a man who's practically a master with his djinn and has formal weapons training!" I shouted, frustration overflowing in my tone. "Whereas, _I_ am a dwarf who survived a dungeon by mostly running the fuck away and has used a partial djinn equip _once_." I was getting very frustrated. Kouen wasn't picking up on why I was uncomfortable, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him. Although, throwing a fit like a child is admittedly just the way to do that.

"That's why you should be practicing," Kouen replied calmly. Of course he was calm, his brothers probably fought all the time, so he knew exactly how to handle this. I threw my hands in the air, giving up on fighting and deciding to just tell him my problem.

"I don't know what I'm doing and don't want to make a fool of myself in front of you, alright!?" My voice was raised and frustrated. Kouen's frustration began to come to light, as well. I didn't feel bad in the moment, he didn't understand my stage fright as a prince and that wasn't my fault.

"Nobody begins perfect," Kouen once again replied with the wisdom of a sage. _Why does he have to the voice of reason?_ I thought grumpily.

"Easy for you to say, Mr. I-have-year's-of-experience!" I yelled. I was glaring at Kouen at this point, as much as he was glaring at me. Vaguely, I wondered how I was able to spend the majority of my time with him, but then I remembered that we compromised to make the situation work.

"And you're wasting your to be years of experience." Kouen replied, just as emotionless as ever. Sometimes that princely politics thing got annoying.

"Like that's anything new…" I mumbled to myself, hugging myself around the middle. I didn't like fighting, especially with people I respect and admire. I considered Kouen my friend and I didn't want to fight with him. Sometimes he got really frustrating, though. Kouen shook his head at my comment, just as exasperated as I was. Calmer after my break down, I sighed, "Besides, where do I even start? I know a lot, but I don't know exactly how a djinn works,"

"Really?" Kouen asked, a slightly amused and interested tone in his voice. "I thought you knew everything." _This teasing little fucker,_ I thought bitterly, _using my own words against me. Stupid royalty._

"Excuse you," I said, sticking my nose in the air in an offended manner, "I said to assume that I know everything not because I know everything, but because it would shock you less when I came up with some obscure fact about you and your family."

"Mmhm," Kouen was obviously less than convinced and seemed to enjoy backing me into a corner. Somehow, it made me feel more vulnerable than just being out in the open did. Maybe it had something to do with the way he walked over to me, almost like a hunter stalking its prey.

"I should punch you in the dick," I threatened emptily. Empty threats were my specialty, especially if I was annoyed with or simply messing someone. Kouen seemed even more amused at my statement, not that I could blame him. He was six foot one and ripped while I was five foot even and had noodle arms. He had no reason whatsoever to be scared of me.

"Do you really believe that's a good idea?" Kouen challenged my threat. He really did seem amused at the thought that I could hurt him. I could see a hint of a smile on his face. At the sight, I smiled myself, mischievous and teasing.

"No, but it'd make me feel better," I snarked at him. It was like a game between us at this point. We had surprisingly settled into each other's personalities well. It could have been because we were similar in personalities and some of my mannerisms were similar to Koumei, but I also knew I bore certain similarities to Sinbad himself to a degree. Either way, I somehow managed to get this stoic, extraordinarily strong man to joke around and calm down.

"For a short time, perhaps," Kouen responded. His voice was low because he was very close, right in front of me, and there was no need to raise your voice. I had to crane my neck almost all the way back to look him in the eye. He was closer than I let most people, even MD. I was sure that it had to do with the fact we were technically sharing a room. It was the only logical explanation.

"Well, you could always be merciful and make my death swift and painless," I almost whispered, knowing that the penalty would be gruesome and cruel if I actually went through with the act. I felt breathless with how close he was. He was close enough to touch, and how long did I want that? How long had I pushed people away instead of reveling in physical affection like I wanted? How long have I let my own distrust govern my relationships to the point that I rarely hugged people? To the point physical affection was foreign and confusing? He was _so close_ and I wanted it _so bad_ , but I knew it was inappropriate, and so my hands remained on my sides. He was a friend, nothing more, nothing less, and he'd most likely have to leave eventually anyways; so it was fruitless to cause myself that pain.

"No," Kouen said simply. I chuckled a little his short response, genuinely amused. Kouen visibly smiled at the action before slipping back into his emotionless façade. I couldn't tell if he was thinking the same thing I was, and I almost hoped that he wasn't, because I didn't want to tumble into this knowing how it would end. This is exactly why I pushed people away; I didn't want to build trust with a person only to have it eventually severed. Yet somehow I still stayed right where I was at, right in front of Kouen, close enough to touch and feel all the while denying myself.

"Yes," I snickered out in defiance, a giddy grin on my face from teasing the prince of Kou. It was a dangerous game and it fun and it had my heart racing with adrenaline. Kouen's eyes betrayed the happiness and contentment his mask hid, but at this distance, I would have had to been blind not to see it. He enjoyed the game, too.

"No," Kouen argued again, quietly. Was he leaning down? I couldn't really tell, I was too focused on reading his eyes, such a beautiful shade of red with golden flecks that looked pink in some lighting. I've really become attached to Kouen and I feared the worst.

"And why not?" I questioned him. I was in too deep, his duties as prince would have had me killed for _something_ if we were in the Kou Empire. He held so much power over me, physically, financially, politically. It was almost scary. The question stopped Kouen in his tracks though (he _was_ leaning down?).

"You wouldn't deserve it," Kouen didn't a miss a beat. He was a prince, his word was law. Defiling a prince would be a death penalty, simple as that. At least, that's what I was fairly certain he was thinking. An almost evil smile spread across my face. Check and mate.

"Really?" I questioned almost innocently, "Not even after giving you a place to stay in a strange world and letting you sleep in my _bedroom_?" It was almost cruel to hold it over his head, even but in this little game of ours playing dirty was fun. It was all about toying with the other, trapping them in their words. It was fun and addicting and whenever you won against the other person, it was worth the back and forth for the sheer satisfaction in their face, the acknowledgement that they lost.

Kouen looked lost, defeated. He had to resign himself to fact he lost this round, but he was stubborn and he didn't want to. I knew he wanted to be in control, both of us did. We loved control, it left nothing unexpected. He was very obviously calculating his next move, trying to salvage his victory. It almost looked like he was trying to think up a military strategy to take me down in our own game. My grin just reminded him of his loss, though.

"Perhaps," Was his weak reply and I would have laughed if his face wasn't _right there_ and _so close_. It was nerve wracking what was happening and Kouen just hovered there, almost unsure if he should make a move or not. I was so conflicted; I really, _really_ wanted it, but fear and other factors simply said _no_.

"Mmhm," I murmured softly. It seemed to answer his unspoken question and he reluctantly pulled away. My insides felt like screaming and the odd feeling in my chest wanted him to come back so bad it almost hurt.

"You're wasting time," Kouen said, louder and clearer since he wasn't so close now. They say love makes people do dumb things; and if what I was experiencing was love, then "they" were completely correct as my next words perfectly embodied this.

"And you're really cute," I countered strongly, my voice almost sounding annoyed, "Wait…" I couldn't have just said that. My emotions were supposed to be in check, not making me do dumb things around a guest that just so happened to a really cute prince who was right in front of my face and probably going to kiss me if I just hadn't been an idiot and pushed him away with my own reluctance. Silence enveloped us and I took the time while he was stunned in place to take a step back with an awkward laugh.

"I'm, uh, just gonna go practice now," I stammered out, "Yeah, that." I almost turned around, but Kouen prevented it by continuing our conversation.

"No, no," Kouen's voice was confused, looking for confirmation, "What did you say?" Too embarrassed to face my emotions for Kouen any more, I decided to change the topic.

"I thought you wanted me to practice," I countered. My insides squirmed around and it was almost unbearable. Emotions weren't my strong suit and here I was being confronted over something emotional.

"What did you say about me?" Kouen asked again, pressing for further information and wanting the confirmation that _yes, I liked him_. That familiar amusement returned to his eyes. Apparently, my inner turmoil was funny to him.

"Ya, know," I started, brain working overdrive to find some lie, some loop hole to crawl through and ignore this ever happened, "We came here to help me learn how to use my djinn, not flirt." _Why did I think that was a good idea!?_ I screamed in my head. Kouen looked almost pleased with my phrasing, as if I was falling right into his trap.

"Perhaps," Kouen said with a variable air, like our original purpose could be changed at any time. I could almost hear the rest of the sentence: " _Perhaps that's why we came here, but flirting is always a nice alternative."_ I wanted to agree with it, but it was something that was, sadly, serious and needed to happen.

"Uh-huh," I said dumbly, trying to act as if I didn't know what he was thinking. I was still trying to get out of this. It just seemed to please Kouen more, though, if his smirk was anything to go by, at least.

"You can practice now," Kouen almost sounded like it was an order and reflexively my eyes narrowed on him so he knew it annoyed me. Not that it would do much, of course, because he was, and always will be, an egotistical prince at the end of the day. At least he would be, until he would be exiled after the civil war in Kou. _Maybe I could change that, though._ I thought in the back of my mind. None the less, I sighed and began to stretch again.

"Any idea on where to start, teacher?" I asked, trying to be as condescending as possible. Kouen simply turned to his thoughts to think of where to start.


	10. Chapter Nine: Breaking News- Emotions!

Chapter Nine: Breaking News- Emotions!

"Any idea on where to start, teacher?" Brii asked mockingly. Kouen thought for a moment, trying to think on the best place to start when using a djinn. Brii mentioned she had no formal combat training, which would be a must whether she knew what her djinn's weapon was or not. She didn't seem to know officially, though, since she also mentioned that she's only used a partial djinn equip once. She'd need to be comfortable with her weapon, as well. It wouldn't do well to be using a weapon that was difficult to use; at least if you aren't Kouha.

"First, let's try making sure you're comfortable with your djinn's weapon," Kouen responded in a businesslike manner, "You're less likely to control a djinn if you can't even control a weapon." The comment was a little harsh, but Brii didn't seem to be perturbed by his choice of words. In fact, she hardly responded to them at all. It almost worried Kouen how she seemed so preoccupied.

"So I basically need some sort of weapons training?" Brii asked for clarification. For all her knowledge, it was shocking that she didn't know the first thing about using a djinn. Kouen still had doubts about this fact, he expected her to suddenly come up with the information on her own.

"That's exactly correct," Kouen said, nodding as well. Brii mulled over his words and Kouen didn't think to add that she needed to know what her weapon was first.

"What do you suggest then?" Brii asked. She really didn't know the first thing about Djinn equip then.

"Weapon out," Kouen demanded, crossing his arms and staring the woman down. She looked almost bewildered at his request, but that quickly turned into annoyance.

"How?" Brii questioned him. "I barely know anything about using my djinn, and you expect to just conjure even a partial djinn equip on the fly? Why do you think I asked for help?" She did have a point. The practice would be good for her, though.

"What was the weapon that appeared when you did use your partial djinn equip then?" Kouen countered. Surely she'd remember that. By the relaxing look on her face, she did.

"It was a glove," Brii answered simply. Kouen paused at the information. A glove was an interesting weapon for a partial djinn equip, but there had to be more to it. A glove couldn't have been the weapon this djinn had. He needed to see her full djinn equip.

"I need to see your full djinn equip," Kouen said, much to Brii's dismay. Her brow furrowed and her confusion and frustration was very obvious.

"And how exactly do I do that?" Brii asked; a little venom in her voice. Kouen almost didn't blame her for being frustrated. She was being asked to do things that she specifically asked for help with, but Kouen still found it annoying how easily frustrated she was.

"Just do whatever feels right," Kouen said with an air of finality. Brii knew that arguing wouldn't get her anywhere and thought for a moment. Kouen could tell when she began to focus her magoi; she grabbed the wrist of the hand her ring was on. He noticed before that she had a habit of moving the ring to various fingers. When he first met her and noticed the ring, it looked like she was married.

"Spirit of Trickery and Leadership," Brii began. She was extremely focused, her eyes closed and her muscles tense. "I summon you to give me the power to make my will stronger, convert my body into a transmitter of your strength, dwell in my body, Hilal!" As her ring began to glow, Brii's hair grew messier and her clothes changed. What once was a simple t shirt and jeans was now a shirt made of bandages covering one shoulder and loose fitting dull teal pants ending at her knees. The ring itself grew along her arm, forming armor with golden accents along the way and wrapping black leather straps around her to keep it in place; a metal head band wrapped around her head and also held golden accents. The djinn's third eye rested on the band. Golden belts looped around her waist with a white cloth hanging under them and black leather wrapped itself around her feet to form sandals. A large aquamarine gem was embedded on the hand guard.

"Very good," Kouen complimented the woman on her transformation. Brii didn't seem to be as happy for the success though. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

"Why the hell am I wearing a bandage bra as a shirt!?" Brii screeched in protest, "It's cold!" The temperature of the day was actually rather warm, but Kouen thought that she was more so referring to the sudden loss of coverage. Brii was touchy when it came to temperature. She'd acclimate to a certain temperature and she'd shiver if it suddenly changed. He's seen her complain about being cold just by removing a blanket.

"Calm down and get used to it," Kouen said, almost coldly, "It's your djinn equip and you'll most likely be using it more than you expect." Kouen wasn't sure if anything would happen to instigate a battle in this world, but it was always better to be safe rather than sorry.

"Right, well," Brii looked at the newly donned armor, "Hilal's weapon seems to be armor, so…" Her unspoken question was already being pondered by Kouen, however. Without a sword or other weapon to train her with, the next best way to fight would be hand to hand combat.

"Martial arts would probably be the easiest way to utilize your djinn," Kouen asked her. Brii nodded and allowed the equip to fade. She rested her hands on her hips with a determined, if not a little scared, look.

"So where do we start learning that?" Brii asked.

* * *

First, Kouen taught her the basic forms. It took her a few days (and a few sunburns), for her to get it down enough she wouldn't immediately fail a test on them. Another few days passed with learning some more complicated moves and applying lots of sunscreen. Each training session they had seemed to have an underlying sense of flirtation. Kouen sometimes had to physically help Brii with her forms and Kouen couldn't deny how fun it was to tease her about how red her face would get. Brii was decent with what he had taught her at this point, and Kouen didn't see any harm in some light sparring with her. At least, until she managed to clock him right in the face with a well timed feint.

"Oh my god," Brii began to panic. Kouen was crouched close to the ground, still in shock of the fact that Brii had managed to punch him square in the face despite still being an extremely low level fighter. "I'm so sorry!" She apologized, crouching in front of him to try and see the damage she had done. She tentatively reached out to touch him, but Kouen caught her wrist.

"I think that's enough for today," He said calmly, standing up and inadvertently pulling Brii up with him. Brii nodded and took her hand back from him. She wasn't done trying to help him, though.

"Is your eye okay?" Brii asked, and began to shoot rapid-fire questions at him, "It doesn't hurt too bad, does it? Oh, are you feeling nauseous or dizzy or anything?" More came after that, but he began to tune them out. Kouen was beginning to get very annoyed very quickly despite her good intentions with all the questions she was asking him.

"I'm fine," Kouen said harshly. Brii quieted down immediately, but still looked very worried. She gestured to the car, but Kouen was already walking to it. Brii followed him silently and didn't even tease him when she opened the door for him.

"Sorry…" Brii apologized as she got into the driver's seat. Kouen was already 0situated in the passenger side. He nodded to acknowledge her, but didn't say anything after that.

The drive home was mostly silent, but not pleasantly so. One inhabitant of the car was jumpy and still occasionally commented on Kouen's health, while the other was contemplating exactly how Brii was able to trick him like that. Kouen was certain he had been focused, not thinking about anything inappropriate while he helped her train. Yet somehow she still managed to get past his defenses. It was a simple feint and somehow he fell for it despite being the one to actually teach her that move. Perhaps he let his guard down too much and expected her to not use it due to her straightforward mentality. That had be what happened. They arrived home at what felt like record time and Kouen was out of the car almost immediately.

"Do you at least want som…" Brii trailed off as she saw Kouen was already gone.

Kouen walked inside with Brii rushing to catch up with him. He made his way through the short entryway to turn right, coming into the large living room. There, he sat on the couch next to his brother Koumei who was watching Kouha play videogames yet again. Thanks to Kouha's newly found and hopefully short lived addiction in the strange technology, the living room had almost entirely become the Kou Empire's territory within the house save for the few times Sindria inhabitants would come in with MD. Currently, Judal was perched on one of the plush chairs watching Kouha as well.

Kouha played bloody and gory games on what Brii claimed were older consoles. The stories in the games interested Kouen, as some were about young women connected to spirits and others about humans being taken over by mushrooms. Kouha's favorite was a game including a superhero named "Deadpool," though. Kouen and Brii had spent a whole day translating the controls into their language for Kouha together. Now that Kouen began to think about it, she had surprised him then, too. Only that time it was with one of her usual vulgar jokes and to his astonishment and horror, Kouen had laughed at the sheer surprise of it. More instances similar to that one began to come up in his mind, and Kouen began to think that this was an issue possibly related to her djinn. She did claim he was a spirit of trickery after all.

"You look troubled," Koumei commented casually, his eyes still trained on the foreign _television_. Kouen couldn't respond before Kouha was already asking about his condition.

"Did Brii punch you?" Kouha asked; some concern in his tone. Brii came out of the connected door to the kitchen and gained everyone's attention.

"Yeah, I did," Brii confirmed Kouha's suspicions as she held out a white, wrinkled rectangle with condensation forming on the parts that weren't wrapped in a thin, blue rag. "Your eye is bruising, take the damn icepack." Judal began to laugh from the sidelines, but an annoyed look from Brii caused him to quickly quiet down. Judal had gotten on the lilac haired woman's nerves rather fast and she made him pay the price by forcing him to eat carrots. It was an unorthodox punishment, but served its purpose none the less and Judal was almost frightened of Brii now. After silencing the magi, Brii turned back to Kouen with a glare.

"I don't need it," Kouen said defiantly. He glared back at her. He respected her despite her odd nature and blunt attitude; he couldn't exactly protest since his status as imperial prince was nonexistent here. Kouen also felt like he owed Brii after she let him and his family stay in her home despite it already being overrun with Sindria. However, his frustration surrounding the very same person bled into his usual demeanor. After all, Brii was the reason he was beginning to feel confused and being confused was not something Kouen enjoyed.

"I will shove this down your pants if you don't take it," Brii threatened. She seemed oddly serious, but Kouen suspected it was just another one of her empty threats. In the background, Kouha and Judal snickered.

"I don't need it," Kouen protested again. His previous hypothesis of Brii threatening him emptily was wrong.

Brii lunged for the waist band of his pants, fully prepared to enact her warning. Kouen leapt out of the way, his vision blurring as the movement aggravated a headache. A flash of light later and Brii flew at him again in her djinn equip. Kouen was knocked the ground and thoughts of what he could do to fight off Brii circled in his head; yet on some level he was amused at the sheer absurdity of the impromptu wrestling match and Brii's stubborn determination to help. Kouen could easily have just used Phenex to heal himself, it was the only inconspicuous metal vessel he had and kept it in his pocket, but instead he decided to humor the fight.

"Should we stop them?" Kouha sounded in the background. Laughter that suspiciously sounded like Judal saying no followed, but Kouen wasn't really paying attention.

Kouen flipped them so Brii was below him. She only attacked by shoving the icepack up his shirt. Instinctively, Kouen moved away from the cold, but also let Brii flip them back over. Brii's armored forearm came dangerously close to pinning his entire upper body and Kouen caught it with both hands, pushing on it with all his might. It wasn't that hard to push the arm up, but then coldness on his stomach made him freeze and start squirming to get away from it again.

A flash, and both Kouen and Brii froze in their position. Looking up, MD stood there, grinning eerily ear to ear, with the strange device known as a cellular phone in her hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Kouen saw Brii flush red from the tips of her ears to her collar bone just as her djinn equip faded.

"Gee, Brii, you're really going for it," MD teased. Mischievousness radiated off of her in waves so thick you could almost see it.

"Shut up!" Brii yelped, scrambling off of Kouen as fast as she could. Kouen sat up a little slower, his head hurt after all.

"Wow she really did a number on you, Kouen," Sinbad snickered. Kouen couldn't stop the internal, _Oh so he's here too._

"It was a lucky shot," Kouen defended.

"That was great!" Judal exclaimed from the sidelines, wheezing in his attempt to breathe again after the laughing attack he had.

"I wish I was here for the whole thing," MD chipped in, "It must have been adorable!"

"I can't believe this." Brii held her face in her hands. Kouen saw Jafar whispering to Sinbad, which was already suspicious, but it got even more suspicious as Sinbad cleared his throat to gain attention on him again.

"MD and I had a discussion and there is something we'd like to try," Sinbad started, sounding as if he was talking to his commoners in mass.

"Oh yeah!" MD piped up with a voice of remembrance, "Sinbad thinks I might be a Magi and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Judal cut in, "A _fifth_ Magi?" Judal was incredulous and obviously offended.

"Judal, enough," Kouen stopped Judal's rant before it began.

"It does make sense…" Brii mumbled, before getting louder, "If I'm a King vessel, it's possible MD would be one of this world's magis. Plus she has been wearing a braid in her hair for a while now, seemingly compulsively." Kouen could see that Brii was uncomfortable. It probably had something to do with Sinbad believing this. Brii didn't trust Sinbad and acted as an ally to the Kou Empire, which Kouen was grateful for.

"Exactly," MD started again, "So we were wondering if you could help me raise a dungeon, Judal." Sinbad nodded next to the slightly nervous brown-haired girl. Brii's suspicious expression immediately morphed into shock and that almost looked like offense.

"What? Why wouldn't you just start with summoning a djinn? That seems much safer than just summoning a dungeon straight out of the gate." Brii was obviously worried for MD.

"Well, technically anyone can summon a djinn with enough magoi," Sinbad replied, "So that wouldn't actually give us the best answer to this question." Both Brii and Sinbad had intense gazes, challenging the other-

"Well it doesn't matter because I'm not helping her!" Judal proclaimed. Kouen glared at the magi, but Judal didn't care. He just sat there with his arms crossed, pouting.

"Judal, if our hosts want your help-" Judal cut Kouen off once more.

"No! I don't wanna!" Judal was very adamant about this. Kouen glared, but Judal only pouted more.

"Why don't we just leave it be?" Brii suggested.

Everyone in the room agreed for the sake of keeping the peace and the day continued as if nothing happened.

* * *

Later that night, Kouen and I were talking in my room, the usual information swap of different worlds. I was leaned back in my roller chair; my legs propped up on the end of the bed and stretched out. Kouen sat stiffly on the bed, but I shouldn't expect anything else given his personality and upbringing. He was extremely curious, but just as stoic.

"Something you haven't mentioned yet is your childhood," Kouen supplied to the conversation, seemingly hinting at a larger question.

"Why would you want to know that?" I asked. My expression shifted into suspicion. My childhood was one that I didn't hate talking about, but I didn't necessarily enjoy it either. It felt odd that he'd ask about it; especially since this was ultimately a temporary gig, they'd be going back to their world eventually.

Before Kouen could answer or deflect my question, a loud crashing sounded and the floor rumbled. A girlish scream quickly followed. Panic welled up in my chest, _was it MD?_ Without missing a beat, I rushed out of my bed room, smacking my arm on the door frame in the process, and opened the door to MD's room. Not caring for anything or anyone else, I focused on MD.

"MD, are you okay!?" My voice elevated with panic, but my panic quickly faded in exchange for disgust. Sinbad and MD were about to do the do, if you know what I mean. I quickly turned away, my hand hiding my burning face. I was surprised to be met with Kouen right behind me, or more so the sight of Kouen's half chest no more than an inch from my nose. Partially as a joke, and partially as a way to keep MD's decency, I reached up and covered Kouen's eyes, having to stand on my tiptoes to do so.

"There is a penis, you don't want to look," I mumbled.

"Thank you for the help," Kouen's response sounded honest as he backed away from the door, taking my wrists to pull my hands away from his eyes and giving me room to move away with him. Judging purely off of sound, as I was still too embarrassed to move my gaze from the wall beside Kouen or even leave a few feet from the nearest guy I didn't totally hate, I guessed that most of the others in the house had crowded onto the staircase to see what was going on.

"You can look now, you know," Kouen said, turning me around. MD stood there, embarrassed and hastily dressed. Without even thinking, I flung myself at her and started to check for any injuries.

"Are you okay?" My voice was probably a bit too scratchy to be likeable at this point, but thankfully MD didn't mind. Instead, she just hugged me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My bedroom isn't though…" She mumbled.

"Huh?"

Looking over her shoulder, I found what she meant. Instead of the usual purple- walled room with posters and art everywhere, it was half destroyed with a large, blue, horned being coming out of a sword in the midst of the destruction. Nervous giggles rose in my chest at the sight of Baal.

"How did this even happen?" Jafar asked from the sidelines. He had a fierce glare fixated on Sinbad, no doubt thinking about giving the king a lecture later. "Actually, let's just have a meeting in the living room before you start."

"That sounds like a great idea, Jafar!" MD piped up, quickly ushering everyone down the stairs. I ducked into my bedroom quickly to avoid the crowd, though, and walked behind them. I snuck a quick glance into the destroyed room to see that Baal, without the power source of Sinbad touching the sword or MD's concentration, has already retracted back into his vessel. MD disappeared into the kitchen, claiming to be making a snack for everyone.

Padding around the corner, people were getting comfortable on the couches and cushions on the floor that were bought due to the insane number of people staying here. Kouen sat in one of the lone arm chairs, but I decided to follow MD to check on her. Her privacy was greatly invaded just now, after all.

"Hey," I greeted gently, not wanting to spook her.

"Hey, Brii!" MD chirped, a forced cheerful smile on her face. She fluttered around the kitchen like a hummingbird; nearly going too fast for the eye to see.

"Are you okay?" I asked, then immediately mentally berating myself for the answer. _Of course she isn't,_ my mind yelled at itself, _think about how you felt when similar things happened to you! Of course she isn't "okay."_

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Her voice was strained, and I could tell she wasn't. She always looked out for everyone else like that, even if it meant putting herself in harm.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?" I knew I should let it drop, but I didn't feel right doing so until I knew she'd at least talk to me about it. Talking about problems is proven to help with them, after all.

"I know, Bee," MD was very focused on her task of setting the entire bag of pizza rolls out on the baking pan, but I could see her shoulders begin to slouch a little, "But I'm fine."

I nodded in response and left the kitchen, letting MD be alone for a bit.

Coming around the corner, I leaned against the wall to listen to very intense discussion the others were having. Both Kou and Sindria believed that MD was a new Magi, but both Kou and Sindria also believed that MD should serve their respective countries. I sighed, the competition and rivalry between these two groups was crazy.

"If MD is a new Magi, which is unlikely given that-" Koumei was talking, but I needed to step in here for sure.

"Actually, it makes perfect sense that MD is a new magi," I stepped closer to the once-fictional beings, being met with a mixture of faces between curious and upset, "Your existence here has made magic exist where there was none before. The fabric of this world has had to adapt to it, so ultimately MD is just one of this world's magi's, not yours. So it also makes more sense for MD to be a magi allied with this world instead of being allied with either Kou or Sindria." This stunned them for a moment, but Sinbad quickly recovered.

"Yet we are dating, so-"

"Doesn't matter," I piped up happily, clapping my hands together and beginning to rock on my heels, "MD's not allied with either of you and so her powers aren't allied to anyone but her. Just like my metal vessel is mine, not the Kou Empire's."

"Well said, Brii!" MD walked out of the kitchen just then, the entire pan of pizza rolls in her hands. She set the pan on the coffee table in front of everyone and crossed her arms. "As my best friend said, if I am a magi, which I think I am now… Which is kinda scary… I'm not going to choose a side."

"She's on my side!" I joking slid over next to MD with two thumbs up and a cheesy grin on my face, making at least a few people chuckle in my attempt to break the heavy atmosphere. Kouen and Sinbad still seemed unconvinced, but I hoped they'd at least let it slide for now.

If they had a protest, I'd never know. The doorbell rung right after I finished; I nervously walked to the front door with MD and looked out the door. To my horror, news vans and reporters were there. Panic set in my chest, thoughts of terrible consequences of everything being found out spilling into my head. I barely even heard MD talking, my hands were shaking so bad. I backed my away from the door. _Maybe they'll go away if you just don't do anything,_ my brain said to me, _Just lock yourself in your room like usual and it will all go away._ But I knew this wasn't true, I knew I had to face this. I just really, really didn't want to.


End file.
